British Horror Revival

Kill Keith DVD sleeve

2012-02-24T11:20:00.001-08:00

Here's the DVD sleeve for Kill Keith, due out from Metrodome on 26th March. With a great big quote from me on the front!

And, although it's not a horror movie, I can't resist mentioning that porn mockumentary Hardcore: Bare Naked Talent is out the same day - also with a quote from me on the front!

Deadtime coming to UK DVD

2012-02-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

4Digital Media release rock'n'roll slasher Deadtime on 14 May. Directed by Chilean-born Tony Jopia, who made a horror short last year called Cry Wolf, and written by Stephen Bishop, the film stars Leslie 'Dirty Den' Grantham and, bizarrely, Terry Christian (him off The Word)! Also in the cast are Joe Egan (Strippers vs Werewolves, Dead Cert), Julian Boote (The Killing Zone) and Laurence Saunders (The Seasoning House).

Synopsis
A Birmingham-based band are ordered by their unhappy record company to an old warehouse; the goal being to re-start their ailing careers with a kick-ass new promo video. Unfortunately the band and their entourage find themselves targets of a mysterious knife-wielding maniac, haunted by the voice of Satan, and out for revenge.

www.deadtimethemovie.com

A Night in the Woods DVD on the way

2012-02-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

On 25th June, Momentum release Richard Parry's A Night in the Woods, which played Frightfest last August. Parry previously directed the thriller South West 9, and this new horror feature stars Anna Skellern (The Descent Part 2, Siren), Andrew Hawley and Scoot McNairy (Monsters).

Synopsis

Brody, Kerry and their friend Leo go hiking in the ancient and haunted Wistman Woods of Dartmoor. That night jealousies, sexual tensions and strained relationships come to a head; leaving a peaceful camping trip descending into a night of terror. As the paranoia reaches fever pitch it becomes clear that there is a much darker force at work here. Who or what is after them – and can they survive a night in the woods!

Watch SoulSearcher online for free

2012-02-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Neil Oseman has posted his terrific 2005 demon-busting fantasy adventure SoulSearcher online. Well worth watch if you've never seen it before (or even if you have). The same page has the Making Of available on Distrify - again well worth a look to see how Neil stretched his tiny budget to produce something hugely impressive.

Eldorado: first thoughts

2012-02-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

My copy of Eldorado finally turned up from Amazon this morning and this evening I sat down to watch it. I'll need to rewatch it before writing a full review but my initial thought is that it is neither as incoherent nor as entertaining as Evil Calls. It is, nevertheless, utterly shit in almost every respect. Here are a few things worth noting:

Brigitte Nielsen, Caroline Munro and Sylvester McCoy all get their names spelled wrong in the credit block on the sleeve. Nielsen and McCoy also get misspelled in the end credits, but differently in both cases. Poor old ex-Mrs Stallone had her name spelled a third wrong way in the trailer - that's impressive.
Numerous other cast and crew members' names are also misspelled. I'll try and compile a full list.
Although the film contains an enormous amount of bad acting, Richard 'Steven Craine' Driscoll himself blows everyone else away, playing the only Chicago native with a Welsh accent.
Narrator Peter O'Toole, who looks like he has been freshly dug up, has clearly been given no previous look at the 'script' he is reading from.
Michael Barber, as the giggling, chainsaw-wielding psycho has way, way too much screen time. He sounds like Bluebottle, can't act for toffee and has brought to an end Joe (Stag Night of the Dead) Rainbow's short-lived reign as 'most irritating character in a British horror movie'. It's clear now why he had no lines in Ashes to Ashes.
Despite being ostensibly 'for horror fans' there is probably no more than five or six minutes of the film that would qualify as 'horror'. Still, that's more than would qualify as 'comedy'.
The disc has no extras, not even scene selection.
The sleeve says it's 158 minutes but it's actually 1 hour 58 minutes.
Daryl Hannah's 'character' is meaningless and she is clearly taking the money and running, as are most of the other name cast.
David Carradine's 'character' is even more meaningless and consists of stock footage from the 2008 TV movie Kung Fu Killer. Far from being 'his last film', he made at least 20 more films after that one.
Most of the theatre scenes were obviously done with the 'act' shot completely separately to the 'audience', a technique that looked awful in The Comic and looks just as awful here.
The 'audience' obviously consists of crew members and their half-hearted clapping and clicking of fingers is cringingly terrible.
The best actor in the film is probably Celina Jennings (seriously!). It says a lot about the movie that she has about three lines and was actually the camera operator.
Rik Mayall mimes to an operatic aria (in Italian) and has a pointless post-credits bit. With Evil Calls and Just for the Record, he has now been in three of the very worst British films ever made.
Apart from Mayall's aria, all the songs sound like what they are: mediocre cover versions by club singers.
The whole film shamelessly rips off everything about The Blues Brothers, including characters, songs etc. A legalese caption near the end about copyright doesn't look to me like it would actually deflect a law-suit if any of the rights owners could be arsed to sue.
The bits that don't rip off The Blues Bothers mostly rip off Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.
The departure of Rebecca Linley midway through shooting has clearly caused a lot of problems with the story.
Despite being set in America, many of the cars are right-hand drive.

With half-term coming up it could be a while before I write a full review. I don't expect it to be 22,000 words again, but it will be detailed and accurate.

Steampunk Poe 'Mask' from Pratten and Sothcott!

2012-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

The only thing better than really cool people working together is really cool people I know working together. So it's great news that my pal (everybody's pal) Jonathan Sothcott, busy finishing off Elfie Hopkins and Strippers vs Werewolves, has announced a sci-fi version of Mask of the Red Death, to be directed by my old mate Robert Pratten, the man who brought us London Voodoo and Mindflesh.

Press release

On the eve of the Berlin film market, prolific independent producer Jonathan Sothcott (Elfie Hopkins, Strippers Vs Werewolves) has announced ambitious plans for a post-apocalyptic, steampunk-styled adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic horror story The Mask of the Red Death, to be directed by acclaimed British film maker Robert Pratten (Mindflesh, London Voodoo).

"London. 2020 as the radioactive clouds begin to fade after a devastating nuclear war, the last dregs of humanity fight to survive – drought and famine cripple this cracked, broken world. Electricity is a thing of the past. Hideous mutants stalk the night, desperately searching for food and warmth. A cold planet.A dying planet. Superstition is rife. Evil rises. Through the husk of the once great metropolis stalks a lone figure, The Red Death: to some a God, to others a freedom fighter. To all a nightmare of agonising death.

From the shell of a once great building, all that remains of his empire, corrupt billionaire Marzo rules what is left of London. His kill squads murder, pillage and rape. His group of friends indulge in every excess. Yet neither money or power can save Marzo from the Red Death… and it is coming for him."

Mask of Red Death will be a transmedia project encompassing a feature film, mobile app, web videos and social media. All media and marketing for the project will be integrated with a new technology called Conducttr which allows audiences to take a participatory role in the storyworld. Although audiences can't affect the outcome of the movie - it plays like any other - they will be incentivised to collect items across the web and physical locations in order to have a heightened experience of the movie when it screens.

Sothcott, Head of Programming for the Horror Channel prior to his successful career as a film producer, said "I have been looking for a project to work on with Robert that was more than just a film. As a producer I am constantly looking for new ways to tell stories and transmedia represents a very exciting opportunity. This version of Poe's most famous story has everything the modern horror audience could want – its terrifying, sexy, action-packed and gory. As a film maker, Robert has a unique visual style that will make for an incredibly stylish film – this will be every bit as shocking as Mindflesh was and the post-apocalyptic setting allows us to give it a unique flavour – part steampunk, part cyber goth."

Pratten commented "When Jonathan mentioned the idea to me my mind first went to Tenpenny Tower in Fallout 3. It's not quite like that at all but it does give you the idea of a rich dude trying to protect himself from the inevitability of death after an apocalypse.

This is a great opportunity to show how society might look after a reboot from a damaged hard drive: there's a lot of what we recognize mashed up with medieval behavior we thought had been erased.In a world today in which many are predominantly hostile to spirituality, all they've done is replace faith in God with a faith in silicon chips and silicon breasts. In an post-apocalyptic Britain set in 2020, with life as we know irretrievably lost, new leaders will need to create myths in order to bring hope to the hopeless. And where there is no hope there'll be violence, drugs, superstition and lust driven by the fear of facing our own mortality."

The $1.5 million picture is scheduled to begin principal photography on June 1st 2012. No casting has been announced as yet.

Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Mask of the Red Death was first published in 1842 and has been filmed a number of times, most notably by Roger Corman in 1964 with a cast including Vincent Price and Hazel Court.

review: Red Kingdom Rising

2012-02-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

Red Kingdom Rising, newly reviewed on my main site, is a hugely impressive, visually poetic, British fantasy/horror feature from writer/director Navin Dev, whose previous shorts were Red Hood and Tree Man.

Inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll, Red Kingdom Rising tells of a young woman's return to her family home after her father's death and the secrets she discovers within herself. For much of the film there's an ambiguity - for both audience and protagonist - about what is or isn't a dream. Among the sequences that certainly are dreams are several quite gory nightmares with effects by Zombie Diaries' Mike Peel.

RKR had a preview last November, following which Navin was kind enough to send me a screener.

www.redkingdomrising.com

Stormhouse on DVD in the States

2012-02-08T00:21:00.000-08:00

Stormhouse was released on US DVD/VOD yesterday by Lionsgate. Here's writer/exprod Dan Turner blogging about it. The film was directed by Dan Turner (Experiment) and has played some festivals but there's no news on a UK release yet. Here's the trailer. Looks good.

Still waiting for: Season of the Witch

2012-02-04T10:20:00.000-08:00

Not the Nic Cage feature, and not Halloween 3 either, this is a micro-budget British indie feature that has been sitting around doing nothing for at least three years now.

I don’t know much about Peter Goddard except that he’s about 26, lives near Salisbury and is currently finishing his second horror feature. Writer/director Goddard and producer Daniel Coffey set up the apostrophe-free Devils Avalanche Films and made Season of the Witch in 2008 for about a thousand quid,. Hollyoaks’ Beth Kingston was token name value leading a cast which included Steve McCarten (Harsh Light of Day) and Kevin Hallett (The Scar Crow, Kill Keith). The film was scheduled to screen at the Bourne to Die Festival in Christchurch in January 2009 but that event was cancelled and Season of the Witch seems to have completely disappeared.

Synopsis
Mary Blackwell travels back to her hometown of Maiden Hollow to clear out her recently deceased fathers house. She takes her two children Alice and Sam with her. Whilst there they discover a tiny village, which has been isolated from surrounding towns and in which the locals have developed their own way of life. The villagers are initially hostile towards the new family, but grow to accept them. Local priest Michael Howdy, however, takes an unhealthy interest in Marys daughter Alice. Villagers Harry Price, John Elliot and Tom Hopkins, notice this interest and keep a close watch on Michael.

After being involved in a car crash some years back, Michael has suffered head and brain injuries which spark off a series of surreal fantasies confusing Alice with his dead wife Isobel (who died in the car crash.) Whether or not Alice is connected with Isobel or that she merely has a resemblance to her is left deliberately ambiguous. Michaels illness invades his mind and his sanity leading to him finding himself in position he could never have intended. The villagers enact swift and callous retribution only realising the horror they have committed at the last moment when it is already too late....

Stills

Trailer

Goddard is now finishing off his second feature, a ghost story called Any Minute Now, most of which was shot last year. That one stars Lee ‘Zammo from Grange Hill’ MacDonald, has a bigger budget and is nearly ready. In fact, Goddard completed his initial edit of the feature only last week.

Still no sign of Season of the Witch but you can check out his ten-minute horror spoof Wolf! Where? on the Devils Avalanche website.

When the Lights Went Out: premiere, poster, trailer, synopsis

2012-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Pat Holden's retro poltergeist feature When the Lights Went Out had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival yesterday. You can see a bunch of stills on the festival site. Here's the poster and, via Quiet Earth, the trailer.

Synopsis
1974, based on a true story. The Maynard Family move into their dream house, only to find a “presence” already living there. Based on true events, When the Lights Went Out is set in Yorkshire, 1974. Britain is in recession, the oil crisis and black outs loom large. The Maynard Family move into their dream house, only to find a “presence” already living there. Len (Steve Waddington), Jenny (Kate Ashfield) and their daughter Sally (Tasha Connor) must struggle to keep their already-fragile family together as they are attacked by poltergeists. Soon it becomes apparent that Sally is their main focus of attention. The house becomes a living nightmare. They must exorcise the evil spirits for them to survive.

Harsh Light of Day world premiere on 3rd March

2012-02-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Oliver Milburn's Harsh Light of Day will receive its world premiere at Cinequest in San Jose on 3rd March (with additional screenings on 6th and 9th). The film is pencilled in for a UK theatrical release in April.

Synopsis
After returning home from the launch of his book about the occult, Daniel Shergold's house is broken into by thugs, who beat his wife to death and leave him paralyzed. A depressed agoraphobic in his secluded country cottage, Daniel mourns the death of his wife while being cared for by home nurse, Fiona. He is unable to accept the lack of success the police have in finding his wife's killers. Daniel accepts a visit from a mysterious stranger who insists he can help him reap revenge. He agrees and is thrown into a strange and horrific transition into darkness. With renewed strength, Daniel sets out to avenge his wife's murder, but at what cost?

www.harshlightofday.com
http://harshlightmovie.wordpress.com
I'd also point you to the Facebook page but it's one of those that you can only see if you're logged onto Facebook, which isn't the soundest of marketing strategies.

Deviation poster unveiled

2012-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Here's the one-sheet for JK Amalaou's two-handed Deviation, starring Anna Walton (Vampire Diary, Mutant Chronicles) and Danny Dyer (every thing else). The film opens in selected cinemas on 24th February and hits DVD on 27th February. I haven't been invited to the special bloggers preview, but I think it's when I'm on holiday anyway. Plus I have a book to finish...

Film 79: Anazapta

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

I vaguely recognised the title of this 'Medieval thriller' but had not realised until very recently that it's actually a supernatural horror film. And a subtle, well-made one too.

Directed by Alberto Sciamma, whom I met back in 1998 or so when he was promoting his first film, the very weird Killer Tongue. Anazapta stars Lena Heady (I met her on the Hallmark Merlin mini-series), Jason Flemyng and Ian 'Baron Harkonen' McNeice as a Bishop with a stash of 14th century porn.

Gritty and shitty production design and a good script makes this well worth seeing. I can't understand why it's so obscure.

Film 78: Creep

2012-01-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Creep. It's a good, solid horror yarn which brilliantly uses its London Underground setting. Not having seen it since the theatrical release, I was delighted to discover the much-missed Ken Campbell in the prologue. Why didn't more film-makers use Ken? The man was brilliant.

Anyway, Creep is not just a fine entry in the 'London Underground horror' subsubgenre, it also slots neatly into the largely literary 'hidden London' category of story. Made with some German money but a very British film and the start of an impressive career for Chris Smith.

Film 77: KillerKiller

2012-01-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

The second Pat Higgins film released was actually his third. Pat shot HellBride and KillerKiller back-to-back in that order but this was released in 2007 whereas HellBride didn't come out until 2009 so falls outside the scope of the book.

This is my second favourite of Pat's four solo features, a taut, simple story of psychos being picked off one by one in some sort of supernatural limbo. Or something.

In other good news, I discovered that I had the wrong release date for two films I haven't yet written up, reducing my total from 113 to 111 so there's now only 34 to go.

Trailer for Community (aka Final Project)

2012-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just found this - the trailer for Jason Ford's film Community (previously announced as Final Project). Looks pretty cool.

Film 76: Nature Morte

2012-01-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

Paul Burrows' British giallo set in the UK, France and Thailand is so impossibly hip and stylish that in my original review I described it as like being repeatedly smashed over the head with a succession of Blue Note jazz LPs.

To this day I don't understand what it was about, but it's a cool and interesting film and a visual treat.

Whatever did happen to Paul Burrows?

Crossing Grabbers off the list (but it still looks great)

2012-01-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Irish co-productions are always tricky when deciding whether or not they should be considered part of the British Horror Revival. You really need to see the film, or at least see the marketing, to judge. A case in point is Grabbers, premiering at Sundance.

Fangoria has a great interview with screenwriter Kevin Lehane in which he says, "I wanted to do something that was authentically Irish and a really cool Irish film that we’d never seen before." So that's enough for me, and I can take Grabbers off the list of forthcoming British horror films, even though it has some British money in it.

That said, I still desperately want to see this. It looks ace!

Film 75: Time of Her Life

2012-01-22T23:49:00.000-08:00

Bad, but not in an interesting way, this dull, cheap - and cheap-looking - ghost story consists principally of people talking and walking, though rarely at the same time. I've seen far worse, but that's no recommendation, given the crap that I've had to sit through over the years.

I watch these things so you don't have to, folks.

Grindhouse 2wo poster (and sad/funny stuff on Eldorado Facebook page)

2012-01-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

Richard Driscoll continues to spin fantasies about Eldorado being delayed because he's fighting the BBFC for an 18 certificate even though at least one online retailer is already listing it as a 15. It's certainly very believable that, even though you can now buy a completely uncut version of Zombie Flesh Eaters, this half-arsed little comedy-musical is too extreme to be released. Utter nonsense. Have a read of the Eldorado Twitter feed if you fancy a laugh, or check out the comments on the Facebook page where the cast and crew are starting to realise that not all is as it seems...

In the meantime, here's the poster for Grindhouse 2wo, which is pencilled in for a late February release. Steve Munroe previously starred in The Comic, while 'Lorna Bliss, Britain's newest scream queen' is the Britney Spears impersonator who got understandably pissed off when Driscoll advertised that she would be performing at an event she hadn't agreed to.

Judging by the photos, the Danny Lopez, Brigitte Nielsen, Patrick Bergin and Michael Madsen footage in this is out-takes from Eldorado while the Linnea Quigley footage is out-takes from Kannibal! I don't recognise the Robin Askwith photo so possibly that's from the still unreleased Back2Hell. Continuing the great tradition of people's names being spelled wrong, production designer 'Lee Wilkenson' is actually Lee Fenton-Wilkinson. The out-takes have been sellotaped together, with some new footage shot last month, by editor Richie Mulryne who is drummer with Cornish indie band 3 Daft Monkeys.

I would say Grindhouse 2wo is more likely to be released than Eldorado because the out-takes it's built from might not be covered by the same rights problems (which are most likely what is holding up the Eldorado disc - it's certainly not the BBFC). But I'm not holding my breath for either of them, and neither should you.

Curse this fixed-width blog thing!

Paul Hyett's The Seasoning House starts production tomorrow

2012-01-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

I get excited about a lot of things but one of the most exciting pieces of news I’ve heard recently is that tomorrow Paul Hyett starts production of his directorial debut, The Seasoning House.

In my forthcoming book, Paul probably features more than any other person. Back in 1994, when he was still a teenager, Paul did the effects make-up for Andy Parkinson’s I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain, and from there his career has blossomed to the point where he is, I believe, the absolute top make-up effects artist in the UK.

If you like modern British horror, you’ve seen a lot of Paul’s creations: Lighthouse, Dead Creatures, The Last Horror Movie, The Descent, Cold and Dark, Spirit Trap, Wilderness, WAZ, The Sick House, The Cottage, Doomsday, Eden Lake, Mutant Chronicles, The Children, Tormented, The Descent Part 2, Heartless, Attack the Block, The Reverend. Basically, his CV is a list of (a) great movies, and (b) less than great movies where the best thing were the effects.

The Seasoning House - synopsis
The Seasoning House. An unspoken spoil of a Balkan war. The place where young girls, kidnapped by soldiers and sold on to brothels, are prostituted to the military and civilians alike. This is where we meet Angel, a young, orphaned, deaf mute enslaved by her vicious owner to tend and care for the girls in their drug-induced stupors.

Unbeknownst to her captors, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the house, observing, learning and planning her escape. Following the arrival of the militia responsible for the murder of her family, Angel's friend Vanya is killed by one of them in a twisted sex kick. Angel sets out through both ingenuity and brutality to wreak revenge in this tense, horrifying exercise in claustrophobia, action and suspense.

Angel is played by Rosie Day (Family Affairs, Bernard’s Watch) and the great British Horror Revival cast also includes Anna Walton (Vampire Diary), Kevin Howarth (The Last Horror Movie), Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers), Nathalie Cox (Exam) and Adrian Bouchet (Idol of Evil). The Seasoning House is produced by Sterling Pictures in association with Temple Heart Films and Swedish company Film Gate Films (who will handle the visual effects). Producer Michael Riley previously brought us Vampire Diary, as well as Deviation (due out next month), and is also working on Scar Tissue and Zombie Apocalypse. Paul has co-written the script with another effects guy, Conal Palmer.

Here’s the director’s statement on the sort of effects we can expect:

"The violence in The Seasoning House will be harrowing and extremely real. With my extensive experience in prosthetics and visual effects we will be creating fight scenes and violence in a style not seen before. The production design will be based on the devastated post-war look in parts of Eastern Europe. The Seasoning House itself will be dilapidated with crumbling walls and grey green colours, to mimic the emotional confines Angel is living in. The only colourful parts will be the flashbacks of Angel’s previous life with her family. The costumes and makeup will also emphasise the broken-down, decrepit and fractured world in which Angel lives.

Very cool pre-production artwork

Finally, check out this amazing teaser which was directed by Paul, with some of the same cast and crew, for another military-based horror project, The Black Site. The final shot here is absolutely jaw-dropping.

Looking forward to: Dead of the Nite

2012-01-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

Dead of the Nite is a supernatural horror which is mostly shot and has none other than Tony Todd lined up for the final batch of shooting later this year. Here's the information which was kindly sent to me by the director/producer, SJ Evans. Evans has an acting role in Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection and is attached as producer to Ruggero Deodato's mooted sequel to House on the Edge of the Park.

You can find out more on the film's website and Facebook page. Scroll down for a very brief teaser trailer.

DEAD OF THE NITE

Pillay-Evans Productions are delighted to announce we have agreed terms with US horror legend TONY TODD to appear in our feature horror DEAD OF THE NITE.

Tony has a string of huge box office hits, surpassing $1.2bn and unforgettable appearances in a host of Hollywood Blockbusters including Candyman, The Crow, The Rock and this years US #1 Final Destination 5.

We know Tony will bring his distinct style and his acting pedigree to the part of Ruber when he flies over from L.A. to South Wales in 2012.

Directed by SJ Evans, and produced by Sousila Pillay, Dead of the Nite also stars Joseph Millson (Campus), Cicely Tennant (Blooded), Claudio Pacifico (Prince of Persia), Paul Fox (Red Tails) and Gary Mavers (Devils Bridge), and a cameo by scream queen Suzi Lorraine (Music & Lyrics), Dead of the Nite will be released Halloween this year.

We are also giving fans the opportunity to be involved in making the film from acting opposite Tony, to even being a credited producer by visiting: www.indiegogo.com/dead-of-the-nite.

You can keep up to date on the film and get further information by visiting our Facebook page or following @DeadoftheNite on Twitter.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

When a group of ghost hunters investigate the infamous Jericho Manor, they soon realise it's not just ghosts that go bump in the night! As the team start getting slaughtered, the survivors need to discover who, or what's killing them before it's too late.

DETAILS

We have already shot 85% of the film in Craig-y-Nos Castle last year, and once funding has been raised will film there again and in various locations in Cardiff. As like our previous film TATTOOS: A SCARRED HISTORY, we like to give back (in that case donate money to childrens charity Angelwish), with DEAD OF THE NITE we will be hiring local people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and give them new skills to start a career in film and have the opportunity to work with skilled crew and cast.

Film 74: Vampire Diary

2012-01-22T02:41:00.000-08:00

I really like Vampire Diary, and I think there are four main reasons why:

It does something a bit different with the whole 'fake reality' genre.
It's a rare example of a film about a gay relationship aimed at a general audience.
It's splendidly ambiguous about whether or not Vicki is a vampire. When I interviewed the writer/co-director, the other co-director and the producer, one of them said she definitely is a vampire, one assured me she definitely isn't and the third sat solidly on the fence!
And finally, it's got the always-terrific Keith-Lee Castle from Urban Gothic and Young Dracula in it, making him arguably Britain's most prolific vampire actor of the 21st century.

Film 73: In a Dark Place

2012-01-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

Oh great. Just what the world needs. Yet another version of Turn of the Screw. Because it's still never been done really well, has it? Oh, wait...

This is one of those nothing films that you can barely recall by the time the credits finish. An international co-production directed by a chap from Luxembourg and filmed in that country, this is British enough (screenwriter, source material, cast, setting, plus it's in English) for me to include it.

But there's nowt to say about it, other than that Tara Fitzgerald is actually quite good but token Yank Leelee Sobieski is absolutely awful. And the scenery is pretty.

Eldorado: BBFC blamed...

2012-01-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

Latest pronouncements from the Eldorado Facebook/Twitter thing:

"‎"Due to an ongoing battle with the BBFC for an 18 certification, Eldorado's initial release on Jan 30th will be in 2D only. We have also decided to postpone the premiere until the 25th June, the date of the exclusive Blu-ray 3D release, as we feel that the premiere should be enjoyed in 3D." Eldorado writer/producer & director Richard Driscoll."

and

"BBFC demand cuts in Eldorado to let it go out as a 18 certificate. The Producer Richard Driscoll continues to fight the decision."

Really? I can smell it from here and it begins with B...

Young, High and Dead trailer

2012-01-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the new trailer for Young, High and Dead. It stars Hannah Tointon (Hollyoaks, The Inbetweeners), Louisa Lytton (EastEnders, The Bill) and Philip Barantini.

This trailer's awfully dark. I hope they can do something about that.

Film 72: StagKnight

2012-01-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

After a harrowing weekend watching and writing about Eden Lake, I needed a laugh. Simon Cathcart's StagKnight isn't the funniest or scariest horror comedy ever made but it's likeable, amusing and features some enjoyable performances. Sandra Dickinson is very good as the mad old landlady and looks like she was relishing playing against type.

Mind you, the plot makes no sense at all, possibly because quite a lot seems to have been left on the editing room floor.

Film 71: Eden Lake

2012-01-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

I put off watching this film because I really, really hate horror movies based around realistic violence but it's clearly a very important film as an example of both 'hoodie horror' and isolationist rural terror. Plus it confirmed James Watkins as a seriously good film-maker.

It's so upsetting that it took me two days to watch, in 5-10 minute chunks. But I'm glad I did see it because it's a magnificent achievement. Amazing performances, stunning 35mm cinematography, great score (by my old pal from the Hitchiker's Guide Fan Club, Dave Julyan) and absolutely spot-on script and direction.

Interesting footnote that won't make it into the book: the Asian kid is the actor who plays the brother's best friend in enjoyable kidcom Dani's House.

Eldorado screening confusion

2012-01-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Confusion reigns over possible theatrical screenings of Eldorado. Richard Driscoll is sure that there will be a screening at the Prince Charles Cinema on Monday 30th January with various cast and crew in attendance. However, no details of this have been released on www.eldorado3d.com and there’s no mention of it yet on the PCC website.

The names being bandied about are Michael Madsen (if he’s out of the Big Brother house by then), professional Johnny Depp lookalike Danny Lopez and professional Britney Spears lookalike Lorna Bliss (pictured). However, it seems that not everythng being announced has been agreed to...

Last Sunday, the Eldorado Twitter/Facebook account said “Lorna Bliss and Danny Lopez to perform "Your The One That I Want" with ex-members of Paul McCartney's band WINGS at the after show party in Bournemouth at Mr Kyps”

To which Ms Bliss responded: “BULLSHIT ALERT http://fb.me/1jxfHqV0L THERE IS NO F**CKING WAY I WOULD AGREE TO THAT - EVER !”

Yesterday’s post said “Its officia Lorna bliss one of the stars of Eldorado and the world's best Britney Spears impersonator has agreed to sing some of Britney Spears songs at the Bournemouth Eldorado Special screening Party. Tickets available soon at www.eldorado3D.com Not to be missed.”

Which prompted this tweet from Lorna: “How can something be 'official' if I haven't actually agreed to it ? Takes the P**S !” and, after someone on Facebook suggested it would be “good for a laugh”, Lorna commented “I for one will be giving it a miss so I guess you won't be laughing afterall”

There’s nothing about an after-screening event on the Mr Kyps website. As for the PCC, any screening on 30th January will need to be either very early or very late as they’re showing Robin Hood: Men in Tights at 6.30pm and The Princess Bride at 8.45pm.

It's also worth noting that, with two weeks to go until its release date, Eldorado has still not yet received a BBFC certificate.

ETA: The Prince Charles have now confirmed to me that they have been booked for that date by Eldorado but that all tickets etc are being handled by Driscoll's people.

Film 70: The Sickhouse

2012-01-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

My mother always said, if you can't find something nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. Despite which, documenting how and why this film is so awful has taken me all afternoon.

Absolutely unwatchable with terrible cinematography - how could this possibly be the same DP as The Descent? - which at least detracts somewhat from the nonsensical story, awful dialogue and a cast of teenagers not one of whom is under 25.

Just dreadful.

Tuck Bushman mobile phone game app thing, or some such malarkey

2012-01-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

I don't profess to understand what an 'app' is - my mobile phone cost me £4.99 - and I'm old-fashioned enough that an 'android' is just the human-shaped robotic servant who brings me my cyber-slippers and electro-pipe. But apparently this is some sort of game, promoting Yorkshire horror comedy Tuck Bushman and the Legend of Piddledown Dale, which screened at a few small festivals in 2010 and is lined up for a DVD release sometime this year from Chemical Burn Entertainment.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.appytimes.gptb

You can find out more about Tuck Bushman and the same folks' short films at www.lumbfilm.com.

Before Dawn - great trailer for the Emmerdale zombie film

2012-01-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

The first trailer for Before Dawn is here. Directed by and starring Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk in Emmerdale), written by Emmerdale scripter Mark Illis from a story by (and also starring) Joanne Mitchell (Susan Davies in Emmerdale). Cast also includes Eileen O'Brien (Bridget Burgess in Emmerdale), Nicky Evans (Roy Glover...), Alan French (Geoff Jones... - look, I'm just getting this off IMDB, I've never actually watched the show and have no idea who these people are!).

Judging by this trailer, Before Dawn combines the current vogue for rural countryside horror - with the living dead! I really, really like that there's some slow, quiet bits even in this short trailer. That suggests a character-based film rather than just endless splatter. Let's hope so.

Helen Grace from the wonderful Left Films produces alongside Mitchell and Brunt with Colin's Marc Price as execprod and cinematographer - both names that give me extra confidence that this will be a good'un.

Ouija: indie horror from Derbyshire

2012-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

Info received from young director of forthcoming indie horror Ouija:

My name is Darren Lynch, I'm 25 years old and I'm an actor from Derby. I've currently been acting now for about two years. Playing a character called Shifty in a recent cinema release called Screwed. Also appearing in future 23rd Bond Movie called Skyfall for release in 2013. Watching a lot of big name directors such as Reg Traviss, Sam Mendes and Dominic Burns work on their masterpiece, it has inspired me to write, direct and produce my first movie. A horror movie called Ouija. Always been a fan of horror movies and using the Ouija board inspired me to write this script as there are not many good ouija board films. I am aiming for cinema release on this one for release next Halloween.

Ouija tells the story of nine friends who get together for a night out of partying in the woods. Little do they know one of them has other ideas bringing the Ouija board, convincing everyone to play. They open a portal unleashing a series of demons who stalk the group killing them one by one.

Ouija is something different than any other horror, firstly their isn't a film about an ouija board that has ever been a huge success*. Until now.

This film has everything a horror fanatic is looking for. Scare factors, gore, lots of jumpy bits and of course .. a great story line. I was inspired by the ouija board to write this story. I have done a few in my time never come across anything spooky. But have been told not to mess with the arts of Ouija so i wrote this story in other people's eyes, how they have come across evil on the board.

We have finished filming now after a hardworking five weeks and the film is now gone into post production. The film is looking really good. We have been filming in a woods around the area of Shelton Lock in Derby. Already having attention from our local newspaper the Derby Evening Telegraph and having interest from America with another five articles wrote and a radio interview. Ouija is already blowing up and looking good for the release with so much attention.

More information

*MJS begs to differ: Dude, what about Kevin S Tenney's Witchboard? Made by a film-maker in his early 20s (under the title Ouija!) and a huge hit on video in 1986, spawning two sequels. Great movie!

Plot details for Battlefield Death Tales!

2012-01-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

From the makers of the acclaimed Bordello Death Tales comes the next terrifying chapter in the anthology series. Original directors Jim Eaves (Bane, The Witches Hammer), Pat Higgins (The Devil's Music, KillerKiller) and Alan Ronald (Jesus vs the Messiah) return with three new tales of eye-popping, spine-chilling horror. This time, the stories unfold in the dark days of World War 2.

Monsters of the 4th Reich

Harriet Price tracks down monsters for the British Government. Armed with an array of inventions and contraptions she deals with everything from ghosts, demons, werewolves, vampires and once, she claims, even Churchill's Black Dog. But, along with her newly assigned partner; the cross dressing gunslinger 'Trixie Antoinette', this latest investigation will bring her face to face with the greatest monster of all... Hitler himself. Alan Ronald directs this thrilling and hilarious slice of paranormal pulp.

Devils of the Blitz

The letters from the front line are getting increasingly bizarre. Private Graham Wilson is sending home stories of monsters on the battlefield. Burrowing devils with a taste for flesh. The family back home are divided as to how to react to these letters, and every night they shelter in the cellar as London is subjected to wave after wave of bombs. Until, one evening, that cellar isn't empty. The devils have increased their hunting ground, and suddenly the bombs aren't the only threat the Wilsons are facing in the London night. Director Pat Higgins brings you a dark tale of suspense, edged with pitch-black comedy and a splash of green slime.

Medal of Horror

When an American Colonel's burlesque dancing daughter Daisy is kidnapped by the Nazis, he swiftly sends for her ex Lover and serial love rat George to rescue her. Against his will, George travels deep behind enemy lines battling the zombified soldiers of the First World War in his efforts to save Daisy and his own skin, finally facing off against the sadistic Nazi high priestess Jezebel and her sinister Nazibot automaton. Director Jim Eaves takes you on a suicide mission, with a young British soldier doing all he can to defeat the Nazi menace.

Don't forget that the trio's first brilliant anthology, Bordello Death Tales, is out on DVD on Monday!

Film 69: Botched

2012-01-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

I came to this 2008 horror comedy knowing very little and expecting just a more violent version of a standard LockStock-esque crime caper but it turns out to be a genuinely funny and surprising picture, albeit one that can't honestly be said to work completely.

The cast - toplined by Stephen Dorff - play the comedy with deadpan faces and it's all the better for it. Bronagh Gallagher is particularly good as a strict religious fanatic. But I can see why the film didn't exactly set the world alight. It's a weird chimera of crime and horror which simply switches genres at the end of the first act.

Nevertheless, I'd happily watch this one again, which is not something I can say about all the films I've watched so far...

44 British horror films released in 2011 - and that's down on the year before!

2012-01-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

My latest Devil’s Porridge blog for Hemlock Books is my annual round-up of the British horror films given their first commercial release last year. If you’re a completists about these things, you may want to revise your expectations.

Back in 2001 there were just three British horror films released: Nigel Wingrove’s Sacred Flesh, Simon Hunter’s Lighthouse and Richard Driscoll’s Kannibal. Ten years later, there are 41 titles on my Devil’s Porridge blog. But even that's not complete.

But first there are some updates to the 2010 round-up that I posted twelve months ago. That listed 32 films. This month’s blog adds 16 titles to that list. And since sending the blog post off just before Christmas, I’ve found five more! Four were US releases: Russ Diaper’s 2008 second feature Spirits of the Fall in January; Graham Guy’s ‘old-fashioned ghost story’ Underwood in March; Jason Impey’s double-bill lash-up Woods of Terror in September; and also that month Tales of the Dead, the debut feature from Impey’s mate Kemal Yildirim. Plus Shaun Troke’s Anglo-Polish horror feature Sparrow - shot in Poland with a UK cast - played cinemas in Poland and the Ukraine apparently.

32+16+5 should come to 53 but I have discovered, while writing about Adam Mason’s early films for my book, that he now lives in the States and his later ones are entirely American productions so one of the originally listed 32, Blood River, can be dropped from the list.

As for the 2011 list, again research for the book has pointed up US DVDs of two Jason Impey features, Tortured (June) and Psychopaths: Sex with Hostages (July - good grief). I also managed to miss out - simply because of the sheer weight of numbers - the September UK theatrical release of Susan Jacobson’s The Holding. Mea culpa on that.

My book, covering 1998-2008, includes 111 movies (curse you, Impey, stop making bloody films!). But in the three years since then there have been 124, largely due to the ease with which a ‘US DVD release’ can be arranged for pretty much everything. These films are on sale - but is anybody buying them?

Eldorado London premiere lined up for 30th January, Driscoll filming pirates?

2012-01-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

From the Eldorado Facebook page:

Eldorado will premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End on Monday 30th January. Celebs from the film will give a Q&A before the showing of Eldorado in 3D. Tickets will cost £25 and will include a complimentary DVD of the film and also the album. Tickets will soon be available at www.eldorado3d.com. Further screenings of the film Eldorado around the country will be announced on Monday 9th January

In other Richard Driscoll news, Johnny Depp impersonator Danny Lopez reports on Twitter that he has been in Cornwall filming green-screen stuff for Death Ship: The Real Pirates of the Caribbean, presumably wearing the same 'Captain Jake' outfit he has in the Eldorado 'viral' videos. Some visual effects work was done on this project back in 2010 when it was called Caribbean Pirates: The Death Ship Chronicles.

Exclusive interview with 'NOTLD: Resurrection' producer

2012-01-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

My mate Andrew Jones, who I've known since his directorial debut The Feral Generation, is currently producing a Welsh 're-imagining' of Night of the Living Dead. Andrew has very kindly answered some questions about NOLDR over on my main website. Here's a couple of extracts; you can read the complete, detailed, fascinating interview at MJSimpson.co.uk.

“Some fanboys have accused us of exploitation but that's what the film business is! Every film made happens because the producers or studios feel they can make money out of exploiting a concept that appeals to a particular demographic. But where we differ from the studio remakes is we have the independent freedom to do something unique and different with the Night of the Living Dead concept. Just because we have a known title that's no excuse to make a shit film. We've worked hard to make sure we make a good movie that will please horror film fans, because ultimately we are horror fans ourselves.”

“What I've found interesting about some of the criticism on message boards is that people point out that this film is low budget like that's a bad thing. It's amusing to hear that because those same fans complain about how studios remake the horror classics with big budgets and as a result the remakes have none of the gritty charm or soul of the original films. Every great horror film I've ever loved, without exception, has been a low budget affair. The original Night of the Living Dead, Last House on the Left, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Hills Have Eyes. There's something about the stripped down, gritty quality of low budget horror that makes it a far more visceral and frightening experience than the glossy studio movies. As a horror fan I long for the return of the quality low budget horror that we saw in the 70s and 80s, so as a producer I want to make horror films that try to recapture the vibe of that wonderful era.”

Films 67 and 68: Sick Bastard and Home Made

2012-01-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, Jason Impey. Young lad from Northants who makes zero-budget films with his mates. But in today's world it's possible for amateur stuff like this to actually find a release. Within the 11-year remit of my book, two of Impey's features were included in multi-film box sets by Brain Damage/Pendulum Pictures so I have to acknowledge them. There's a whole subsubculture of cinematic detritus like this which knows no boundaries so British film-makers can venture into it just as much as anyone else.

I ended up writing quite a lot on Impey, more than I planned. I cover Sick Bastard in detail - or as much detail as such a basic film can warrant - and touch lightly on Home Made before gesturing vaguely towards Impey's later releases. If you take a look at his website, you'll see that he's forever re-editing, re-titling and re-combining his features and shorts. I don't need to go into that much detail, thank God.

Impey's films per se aren't particularly interesting but what they represent, in terms of distribution and marketing in the 21st century, is fascinating and fits perfectly into one of the main themes of the book.

New Year’s Evil starts 12-month development and production schedule

2012-01-01T03:13:00.001-08:00

The team behind forthcoming Tony Todd starrer Dead of the Nite have started development on another project, New Year’s Evil. Director SJ Evands and casting director Sousila Pillay of Pillay-Evans Production (formerly Nikjaw) are working with writer-producer David Melkevik who I have to send props to because he’s a University of Leicester graduate!

You can keep track of the project on the blog which launched yesterday.

New Eldorado trailer - spells star’s name wrong!

2012-01-01T02:47:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a bit worried that the publicity for Eldorado seems a bit slick and professional. Not like we’re used to with Richard Driscoll productions.

But have no fear, a brand new trailer launches today which is not only astoundingly amateur-looking, and not only provides a convenient list of all the films ripped off, ahem, homaged, in the movie, it also does that old Driscoll trick of spelling someone’s name wrong.

Anyone know who 'Brigette Neilsen' is? Perhaps she’s some relation to the previously unknown serial killer 'Denis Nielson'?

I can’t wait to see this movie! And remember folks, you can’t judge a Richard Driscoll film from clips in trailers. It’s what he does with the story and characters that makes his movies so consistently entertaining.

Psychological thriller Mask of Sanity complete

2012-01-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

Post-production on The Mask of Sanity, directed by Govind Chandran and Luke Osbond, was completed just before Christmas and the picture is now ready to start hawking round sales agents and festivals.

From the Facebook page:

Made up predominantly of a cast of actors/actresses from a range of (playing age) 18 - 25 year olds and based within a university setting and context, The Mask of Sanity is a modern re-imagining of character archetypes created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (particularly those within the Sherlock Holmes novels).

The film is a look into the mind of someone who walks the fine line between being a genius and a psychopath and the consequences and weight of such a life and draws inspiration from: Silence of the Lambs, The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, Fight Club and Good Will Hunting.

The cast includes Sam Elwin, Jordan Greenhough (also in Anglo-Polish horror film Sparrow), Ellie McAlpine, Rebecca Steward and Paul Barrand (Harmony’s Requiem). Osbond and ‘Guv’ Chandran co-wrote the script with Patrick Watremez, and Guv produced. Most of the people involved are former Oxford Brookes University students.

Eldorado release still uncertain, website launches with loads of clips

2011-12-31T05:51:00.000-08:00

I honestly don’t know whether the announced release of Eldorado in January will go ahead. Richard Driscoll obviously thinks it will but other ‘interested parties’ assure me that Driscoll does not own the rights and any such release would be illegal. There's talk of 'cease and desist' orders. I’ve placed a pre-order with Amazon just in case!

This is the DVD sleeve. For some reason (possibly contractual) it completely fails to mention or depict any of the star names and instead shows Michael Barber (who was a regular background artist in Ashes for Ashes) wearing a clown mask. Despite the ‘18’ certificate, the film has not yet been through the BBFC.

What is really exciting however is the launch a few days ago of a website at www.eldorado3d.com which has a bunch of video interviews containing lots of clips from the film, plus stacks of stills. The ‘trailers’ all seem to be basically the same thing with a different star at the end, and the ‘virals’ are a rather awful series of videos in which professional Johnny Depp impersonator Danny Lopez does a surprisingly bad Captain Jack Sparrow impression. There’s even a Twitter thing so you can keep up to date with stuff.

Among the things I’ve learned are: all the songs were recorded by local club/session singers and then (rather obviously) mimed by the stars; the David Carradine footage was lifted from another of his ‘last films’; there was a week or so of location work in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert; and Daryl Hannah shot all her scenes in LA.

The Twitter/Facebook news feed reckons that Dan Aykroyd and the Belushi estate have sanctioned the use of the Blues Brothers characters. Here’s the most recent news: “Eldorado 3D may only be the first of many spin off Blues Brothers films to feature the Jews Brothers from Eldorado 3D after the reaction from distributors around the world. Lead actor Steven Craine and film director Richard Driscoll are currently in negotiations.” Like any announcement from Richard Driscoll, this should be taken with a big pinch of salt. (Craine and Driscoll are, of course, the same person.)

If this release goes ahead then presumably Grindhouse 2wo will use only spare footage from the Eldorado shoot. Unless Driscoll is preparing it as some sort of contingency plan. Interestingly, some sites list Rebecca Lynley among the Grindhouse 2wo cast - she was the original female lead in Eldorado but left the production after shooting started for reasons that are unclear. I wonder if she - or any of the named cast - know they’re in a film called Grindhouse 2wo...

Also of note is this planned re-release of the Driscoll-produced Dennis Nilson biopic Cold Light of Day which spelled Nilson’s name correctly when Screen Edge released it on VHS in the late 1990s but now claims to be “Based on the true story of Denis Nielson”!

Synopsis and teaser art for The Warning (aka Ward 8)

2011-12-31T04:00:00.000-08:00

Black and Blue films have released new promo art and a synopsis for The Warning (previously announced as Ward 8) which is currently shooting and is pencilled in for release next December.

The Warning is directed by Alexander Williams (aka Dominic Burns: Airborne, Cut, UFO) and stars the unbelievably busy Simon Phillips (Strippers vs Werewolves, Airborne, Kill Keith, The Reverend), Rita Ramnani (Umbrage: The First Vampire), Peter Barrett (Airborne, UFO), Grace Vallorani (The Power) and Charlotte Lewis (Sket).

Alessandro Leone and Alain Wildberger are producing with Jonathan Sothcott as executive producer. JS says: "This is the first time Black and Blue Films have dipped their toe in the found footage waters and following in the footsteps of The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity series is quite a challenge, but we Brits have always found a way to put a new spin on horror genre staples and with The Warning director Alexander Williams has given us a powerful, nightmarishly scary journey into fear. There are none of the familiar Black and Blue faces in this film, no Danny Dyer or Colin Salmon - this is a raw, uncompromising genre picture that is going to really get under peoples' skin!"

The Warning Facebook page

Synopsis
We were warned in an ancient Mayan prophecy that the 21st December 2012 would be the beginning of the end, but not how and where this new era would unveil itself. Until now.

In December 2011 a strange futuristic-looking artifact was uncovered in an uncharted Mayan temple in Mexico - examination of the artifact revealed binary coded information which appeared to be encoded footage. The content was unlocked by students at Chicago state university and appeared to be several hours of video footage heralding the end of the world… time stamped in the near future.

Investigation of those featured in the footage produced several names and the authorities attempted to question those involved about the validity of the footage.

But all of the people featured in this footage have disappeared…

21 British horror films coming your way in 2012 (and 25 more to watch out for)

2011-12-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

Confirmed/tentative release dates, in chronological order

Don’t Let Him In (US DVD)

dir. Kelly Smith

Interesting-looking indie about going on holiday with a psycho. Already released in France and the Netherlands, the American disc on 3rd January will be its first release in an English-language territory.

website

Kill List (US VOD and theatrical)

dir. Ben Wheatley

Some folks love it, some folks hate it*. This utterly marmite film, already out on UK DVD, gets a VOD release in the States on 4th January and a limited US theatrical release from 3 February. (*I hate it.)

Stag Night of the Dead (UK DVD)

dir. Napoleon Jones

Broad zombie comedy about a bunch of lads and a stripper facing off against the undead. Released on VOD in November 2010, this finally comes to DVD on 9th January courtesy of Left Films.

Bordello Death Tales (UK DVD)

dir. Pat Higgins, Al Ronald and James Eaves

Premiering in September 2010, this massively entertaining anthology from three of the best directors around was originally announced for DVD release in August 2011 but was moved to 16th January.

my review

The Wicker Tree (US theatrical)

dir. Robin Hardy

Hardy’s long-awaited follow-up to The Wicker Man played festivals last year and is set to open in US cinemas on 27th January. I haven’t seen it yet and I can’t say I’m that desperate.

website

Stalker (UK DVD)

dir. Martin Kemp

Loose remake of Exposé from Jonathan Sothcott’s reliable film factory Black and Blue Films had a limited theatrical release in October and comes to DVD on 30th January.

my review

Eldorado (UK DVD)

dir. Richard Driscoll

Featuring an amazing cast-list and undeniably the first ever British comedy-horror-musical-western shot in 3D, this is listed for a 30th January release. But that assumes the film isn’t hit with a cease-and-desist order by certain interested parties. I’ve placed a pre-order just in case.

website

Passengers (UK theatrical?)

dir. John Hales

The debut feature by Hales, starring Narnia’s Anna Popplewell, concerns a group of lads who accidentally kill a nurse and then find themselves picked off one by one. Ratio Films announced an unspecified January 2012 release but the lack of anything more detailed suggests it could be later.

The Woman in Black (US/UK theatrical)

dir. James Watkins

You’ve all seen the terrific trailers for this one. A gothic Hammer horror starring Daniel Radcliffe. Hopes are high. It’s scheduled to open in US cinemas on 3rd February and in the UK one week later.

website

Stormhouse (US DVD)

dir. Dan Turner

Shot in 2010 and premiering last June, this indie horror has been generating a lot of interest from its festival screenings and it’s high on my list of films I want to see. It’s set for DVD/VOD release in the States on 7th February.

The Dead (US DVD)

dir. Howard and Jon Ford

The Ford Brothers’ stunning African-set zombie film is easily one of the most politically and socially relevant horror films of recent years. One of the best too. Already available on UK disc, it hits American DVD on 14th February.

website

Demons Never Die (UK DVD)

dir. Arjun Rose

This teen slasher (filmed as Suicide Kids) played cinemas in October and benefited from publicity surrounding the casting of Tulisa Wotsit off X-Factor. Comes to DVD on 20th February.

Grindhouse 2wo (UK DVD)

dir. Richard Driscoll

Cobbled together using left-over footage from Eldorado, this twofer (Man Hunt and Stripper with a Shotgun) boasts some of the same extraordinary cast but also has the same debatable legal/contractual status so the listed release date of 27th February should only be considered ‘pencilled in’.

The Reverend (UK theatrical?)

dir. Neil Jones

Last I heard, this star-packed feature from Stuart Brennan’s Burn Hand Films - Rutger Hauer! Doug Bradley! Emily Booth! - was being lined up for a limited release in February. Exact date TBC. I really want to see this.

website

Deviation (UK theatrical? and DVD)

dir. JK Amalou

A two-hander, shot mostly in-car, about not accepting a lift from a psychopath. Starring Anna Walton from Vampire Diary and Danny Dyer from everything else. The UK DVD is scheduled for 5th March and it’s likely that Revolver will do a limited theatrical release before that.

website

The Porcelain Man (US DVD)

dir. Sameer Kumar Madhar

Shot in November 2002, this ultra-cheapie had a single screening at Warwick University in July 2004 and then disappeared. But Chemical Burn Entertainment have rescued it from oblivion and are planning a Stateside release, nearly ten years on. Features some of the most half-hearted zombie (in)action you’ll ever see.

my review

Devil’s Bridge (UK DVD)

dir. Chris Crow

The Welsh Straw Dogs is lined up to hit shelves on 19th March. I don’t know a great deal about this one but I hear good things.

website

Kill Keith (UK DVD)

dir. Andy Thompson

Listen, I thought this comedy about a serial killer stalking D-list celebs was great, no matter what anyone else thinks. It had a brief theatrical outing in November but most people will watch it at home after the disc is released on 26th March.

Vampires: Brighter in Darkness (UK DVD)

dir. Jason Davitt

Specialist label Peccadillo Pictures have delivered some great horror films recently. This latest, adapted from a cable TV series, is a sort of British gay Twilight (as if Twilight wasn’t gay enough!). It made its festival debut in October and hits DVD on 2nd April.

The Harsh Light of Day (UK theatrical)

dir. Oliver Milburn

An author with a knowledge of the occult receives a visit from a mysterious stranger who promises to help him find his wife’s killers. I’m looking forward to this one which is scheduled to play selected cinemas from 13th April. Not to be confused with the Bruce Willis actioner Cold Light of Day released the week before!

website

Storage 24 (UK theatrical)

dir. Johannes Roberts

A top-secret military cargo escapes from a plane crash and traps a bunch of folk inside a dark storage facility. Roberts’ last feature was the excellent F so I’m very much looking forward to this one, especially as it is produced by, and stars, Noel Clarke. Lined up for a cinema release on 29th June.

Other films to watch for in 2012

No release dates announced yet. Some of these have played festivals in recent months. And there’s plenty more where these came from...

Airborne (d.Dominic Burns) Terror on a pilotless plane. Stars Mark Hamill.
Before Dawn (d. Dominic Brunt) Zombie feature directed by Paddy off Emmerdale!
Cockneys vs Zombies (d.Matthias Hoene) Zombies! Cockneys too! Also Richard Briers!
The Devil’s Business (d.Sean Hogan) Hit-men and Satanism. A bit like Kill List but with an ending.
Elfie Hopkins (d.Ryan Andrews) Creepy fun with Ray and Jaime Winstone.
Final Project (d.Jason Ford) “Blair Witch meets The Wicker Man on a council estate” aka Community
The Forgotten (d.Oliver Frampton) Urban ghost story
Gangsters, Guns and Zombies (d.Matt Mitchell) Zombies! Guns too! Also gangsters!
The Glass Man (d.Cristian Solimeno) An innocent man driven to extremes.
Grabbers (d.Jon Wright) Russell Tovey and Richard Coyle vs tentacled beasties.
Guinea Pigs (d.Ian Clark) Drug trial goes horribly wrong.
Harold’s Going Stiff (d.Keith Wright) Gentle, cross-generational romance. With zombies.
The Haunting of Harry Payne (d.Martyn Pick) Psychic ex-gangster battles Norfolk ghosts.
Heretic (d.Peter Handford) Catholic priest faces possibly supernatural revenge for abusing teenage girl.
Inbred (d.Alex Chandon) Straw Dogs in Yorkshire, from the director of Cradle of Fear.
In the Dark Half (d.Alastair Siddons) “Psychological ghost story.”
Love Bite (d.Andy De Emmony) I was a British teenage werewolf.
Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (d.James Plumb) Zombies in Wales.
Patient 17 (d.Tuyet Le) Supernatural medical chiller.
Stalled (d.Christian James) Trapped in a toilet by a zombie apocalypse. From the makers of Freak Out.
Strippers vs Werewolves (d.Jonathan Glendening) Werewolves! Strippers too! Also Robert Englund!
Three’s a Shroud (d.various) Multi-director anthology, with teddy bears.
Warhouse (d.Luke Massey) Soldier repeats same horrific day over and over again.
Young, High and Dead (d.Luke Brady) Dead! High too! Also young!
The Zombie King (d.Aidan Belizaire) Edward Furlong! Corey Feldman too! Also zombies!

Film 66: Credo

2011-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

Alex Wakeford and Toni Harman made this utterly generic teens-vs-demon-in-old-house feature which was released in the States as The Devil's Curse. The only interesting thing about the film is the presence of Boyzone's Stephen Gately in the prologue which was added to the UK version (it's a brief flashback in the US edit).

Competent but utterly forgetable, it's the sort of movie you can't really remember even while you're still watching it. One of those films that has to go in the book but won't take up much space.

Films 64 and 65: Kannibal and Evil Calls

2011-12-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

I'd been saving these two up and I thought: what the heck? A little festive treat - let's bang out 2,000 or so words on Richard Driscoll, the British Ed Wood.

Of course I could write a lot more. Famously, my shot-by-inept-shot review of Evil Calls ran to 20,000 words. But there's only so much room in the book. Even though they post-date my cut-off of December 2008, I couldn't resist adding a few paragraphs about the unmade Watchmen of Hellgate and the unreleased (possibly unreleasable) Eldorado.

For those of you who have never seen Kannibal or Evil Calls, they are now available under the respective titles Head Hunter and The Legend of Harrow Woods.

Holy crap! Battlefield Death Tales!

2011-12-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Pat Higgins has been hinting at a secret project for a while now on Twitter and can keep schtumm no longer. It's called Battlefield Death Tales and reunited Pat with his oppos from the 2010 anthology Bordello Death Tales, Al Ronald and James Eaves. And it starts shooting tomorrow!

Bordello Death Tales (which was announced for August 2011 but is now scheduled for 16th January 2012) is one of my absolute favourite films of recent years. I love the movies of all three guys - heck, I love all three guys! - and am unfeasibly excited about this.

Driscoll's 'Man Hunt' is half of a re-edited 'Eldorado'

2011-12-26T04:12:00.000-08:00

Oh this is priceless. More news on Richard Driscoll’s Man Hunt aka Grindhouse 2wo which I first mentioned last week. Here’s the blurb on Amazon, Lovefilm etc for the film which is listed as a 27th February release:

In the style of 70's grindhouse comes MAN HUNT and STRIPPER WITH A SHOTGUN in one exciting programme that is full of zombies, cannibals, Nazi's and bare breasted ladies. If you like your cinema raw with plenty of violence than GRINDHOUSE 2wo is not to be missed.

Starring Michael Madsen, Brigitte Nielsen, Linnea Quigley, Robin Askwith and Patrick Bergin.

List of DVD extras:

History of Grindhouse)
Selection of Grindhouse trailers

Driscoll was filming scenes for this earlier this month - here’s a blog by make-up artist Emslie Mills about working on the film. But we can see from the cast list (and the fact that Steve Munro's CastingCallPro page lists his character name as the same) that what Driscoll is doing here is cobbling footage from his 3D Blues Brothers rip-off comedy-horror-musical-western Eldorado together with new stuff to make Grindhouse 2wo – just as he cobbled Alone in the Dark together with new footage to make Evil Calls, and just as he cobbled the unreleased The Devil’s Disciple together with new footage to make the (also) unreleased Back2Hell.

What is interesting is that, on her Facebook page and blog, Emslie refers to Eldorado (which she also worked on) and Grindhouse 2wo as if they are different films so presumably she (and other crew members) were unaware that they’re the same movie.

Also curious to see Linnea Quigley’s name there. Perhaps Driscoll is sticking some leftover footage from Kannibal in there.

Eldorado itself is listed on Amazon etc for a 30th January release. While it would be great to see this nonsense, I’m not holding my breath because there’s still a whole raft of legal/contractual stuff to sort out before this film can be legally released (if that ever happens). Although the various sites show an ‘18’ certificate, the film has still not been through the BBFC (though it has been submitted to the BVA). The existence of Grindhouse 2wo makes it even less likely that we (or the film's increasingly frustrated investors) will ever see Eldorado in its original format.

(Final point to note: there has never actually been Grindhouse 1ne in this country. For both cinema and DVD in the UK, Death Proof and Planet Terror were released separately.)

Good old Tricky Dicky Riskall - he continues to entertain!

Film 63: The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse

2011-12-24T06:36:00.000-08:00

I was never a fan of The League of Gentlemen. I tried to watch one episode and found it much too self-indulgent and artificially 'weird' (and not particularly funny). But the influence of the quartet, especially Mark Gatiss, on recent UK horror and science fiction, is undeniable.

The 2005 feature film spin-off was aimed solidly at people who watched and enjoyed the TV show. Very, very weird. But it does have probably the only stop-motion three-headed monster in modern British cinema.

Review: Stag Night of the Dead

2011-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Napoleon Jones' zombie comedy Stag Night of the Dead finally comes to DVD on 9th January and I have now had a chance to watch and review the screener from Left Films.

SNOTD has been picking up some good reviews but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to disagree. I didn't find the film particular scary, sexy or funny. Its heart is in the right place but it just wasn't interesting or entertaining. And I think the decision to equip the characters with ray-guns that temporarily stun the zombies, instead of, you know, blasting them in the head, was really not a good one.

Sorry, guys.

Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw (short film review)

2011-12-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

I have reviewed Chris Regan's ambitious half-hour, WW Jacobs-inspired short on my main site. It's got animated bits, it's got singing and dancing, but it's missing a spark.

Chris is planning a second Jenny Ringo film and I'd certainly be interested to watch one and see where he goes with the character.

Freak Out team wrap second feature - ‘Stalled’

2011-12-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago Christian James and Dan Palmer scored a big hit with serial killer comedy Freak Out. A couple of weeks ago they wrapped photography on their second feature Stalled, directed by James and written by Palmer.

Palmer stars as WC, a toilet attendant trapped in a women’s loo during a zombie apocalypse. Also in the cast are Giles Alderson (Night Junkies, Harsh Light of Day), Mark Holden (he was in The X-Files!), Chris R Wright (Small Town Folk), Tamaryn Payne (Hollyoaks). Simon White is doing the special effects make-up.

Stalled was shot in Bournemouth over Nov/Dec 2011. No images yet, as far as I can tell.

Driscoll planning a 'Man Hunt'

2011-12-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

I hear rumours that Richard Driscoll, the British Ed Wood, has been shooting some extra footage for his unreleased (and unseen) comedy-horror-western-musical Eldorado, possibly adding some zombies into the mix. On top of which, a new title from Driscoll's House of Fear has appeared on CastingCallPro: Man Hunt.

Or GrindHouse 2wo: Man Hunt, a title which is wrong in so, so many ways.

Synopsis
Guy wakes up chained to wall in cave with just a mobile phone and lots of rats, he doesn't know why he's here or what is about to happen.

The only named cast member is Steve Munroe, once again playing 'Sam Coex'. This is the same character (or at least the same name) as he had in The Comic and as he was set to have in Driscoll's hilariously over-ambitious Watchmen of Hellgate.

Given how many films Driscoll has announced and sometimes even started, and given that he still hasn't released Back2Hell, which was built from footage shot for The Devil's Disciple in 2006, I'm not holding my breath for Man Hunt.

Echoes on the big screen, 14 January, Lancashire

2011-12-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Echoes is a new zero-budget supernatural thriller written, produced, directed and edited by Nag Nag Productions, which is Craig Kendrick, Ivan Meredith and David Wilson. Despite their lack of experience and funding, they’ve pulled the film together, had a cast and crew screening and now they’ve got themselves a public big-screen outing. And some coverage in the Bolton News!

If you’re in the Wigan area on 14th January 2012 you can see Echoes for free at the Leigh Cineworld. Tickets are available via the film’s website where you can also watch the trailer.

Synopsis
A complex supernatural thriller that pushes the boundaries of low budget digital film making. Dave Hidie is a troubled man. Seeking closure and peace of mind following the trauma of family bereavement, he and his wife have tried to move on. New home, new job, new friends. Everything should be coming together - if not for the visions, the voices and the feeling that someone, somewhere, is trying to tell him something. Something that will have a shatteringly life changing effect. Dave is experiencing the echoes of something deep and dark that should, perhaps, be left well alone.

Film 62: Mutant Chronicles

2011-12-19T00:32:00.000-08:00

This was always going to be a tough one to write because Simon Hunter is a mate. He invited me onto the Chronicles set to do a bunch of interviews, was very appreciative of everything I did to try and promote the film when it was released in 2008, he even said that Alan Jones and I were the only two journos he really wanted on his next feature.

But... I have to be honest in the book and Mutant Chronicles is pretty awful. Not through any problem with the direction: I think it's well-directed, well-produced, well-designed and the acting... well, some of that's good and some of it is John Malkovich. But the script (by Event Horizon's Philip Eisner) is just awful, with paper-thin characters, clunky dialogue and absolutely fundamental plot-holes, not least that a world bristling with heavy artillery, armoured vehicles and flying machines is unable to defend itself against what is effectively a bunch of angry gorillas with swords.

Mutant Chronicles was actually part of the reason I gave up journalism. It costs quite a lot to get from Leicester to Shepperton and, while I didn't expect to use the interviews for two years because of the lengthy post-schedule, I did expect to make a profit by selling them. But the film was released with about two weeks' notice so there was no opportunity to place anything. That fed into my disillusionment with the whole thing, plus mags were closing left, right and centre.

Ironically, as soon as I gave up the journalism to concentrate on books and scripts, there was a boom in UK indie horror production and a whole bunch of new mags launched. C'est la vie.

You can read all my on-set interviews in the 'Mutant Chronicles Chronicles' section of my main site.

British Stitches vs Irish Stitches

2011-12-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

Some sites are reporting that production has wrapped on a British ‘killer clown’ mvie called Stitches. Which it undoubtedly has, except that Stitches (previously announced as Stitches Grimble) is an Irish-American co-production. It’s a collaboration between Dublin-based Fantastic Films, the Irish Film Board and American company Dark Sky (who made Hatchett etc)., filmed in Dublin.

It stars an English comedian, Ross Noble, and Fantastic Films have been involved with other British horrors including Wake Wood and Outcast but I’d be very surprised if it’s marketed as a British picture. It’s certainly not the first Irish film to be described (by Americans) as British. But I think we can class this as part of the Irish Horror Revival.

Confusingly, there is a British horror film called Stitches. Directed by Lee Isserow and Trevor Fleming, it was made as part of the 28 Days Later Film Challenge in 2010 under the title The Killer Gloves. That Stitches has played a few festivals and is available on DVD from the Opiate of the People Films website.

Can't wait to see: Scar Tissue

2011-12-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

Scar Tissue wrapped a couple of weeks ago and has some impressive names on the list. Co-producer Tim Dennison’s name is usually enough to interest me just because he always seems to get attached to films I end up watching, including Lighthouse, Room 36, Evil Aliens and even (I discovered from the Scar Tissue website) line producing this year’s London-set Bollywood sci-fi epic Ra-One!

The producer is Michael Riley, who also made the brilliant Vampire Diary and, more recently, Danny Dyer in-car psycho-thriller Deviation which is due out in February. And the music is by Mark Ayres, a familiar name to Doctor Who fans. I think I only met Mark once but as it was in the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop studios and he showed me the original audio-reel of the original Who theme, it has sort of stuck in my memory!

Production designer John-Paul Frazer worked on forthcoming urban horror Comedown, forthcoming rural horror Hollow and the wonderful historical short My Name is Sarah Hayward. And the legendary Paul Hyett has done the prosthetics, which is recommendation in itself.

The cast includes Shaun Dingwall (second time I’ve mentioned him - he’s in The Forgotten), Kenneth ‘Admiral Piett’ Colley, Danny Horn, Pete Lee-Wilson and Chris Cowlin (who is in both May I Kill You and uwantme2killhim?). Writer-director Scott Michell’s last film was 1996 thriller The Innocent Sleep.

This is definitely one I’ll be watching out for.

www.scartissuethemovie.com

Synopsis
Twenty-five years ago the serial killer Edward Jansen was shot and killed by the police in his underground lair. With him were the bodies of five young girls he had mercilessly tortured and killed.

Today he's back.

And today is Luke Denham's birthday. Twenty-two years of a normal, unremarkable life.

But tomorrow Luke will wake up to find a mutilated corpse in his bathroom.

He will be stalked and taunted by a psychopath who died long before Luke was even born. And he will have his future placed into the hands of a volatile and deeply disturbed female detective, Sam Cross.

The secret they uncover will shatter Luke's whole world and bring Sam face to face with demons from her tragic childhood. Together they will discover that the past is impossible to escape. And that some wounds will never heal.

SCAR TISSUE - a powerful, gripping mystery-thriller. Shocking and unsettling, it asks some of the most difficult questions we can ask of ourselves. Can we ever truly know or trust another human being? Can we even know ourselves?

Awesome Emily Booth poster for The Reverend

2011-12-11T15:55:00.001-08:00

There's also a regular one with Rutger Hauer, and for those with unusual tastes there's one of Shane Richie. But let's be honest: who would you most like on your office wall?

Only problem I can see with this is that some people are going to assume the film is called Tracy. What's the betting Tracy gets listed at some point as a spurious credit on Bouff's IMDB page?

You can see all three on the film's Facebook page. It's scheduled for a February theatrical release in the UK.

Films 60 and 61: Dust and Broken

2011-12-11T09:20:00.001-08:00

I've been fairly brief in my coverage of Adam Mason's second feature Dust because I've already discussed at length how awful The 13th Sign was. It's only with Broken, a few years later, that Mason really becomes interesting as a film-maker.

I reviewed this when Revolver sent me a copy and, technically proficient though it may be, Broken is a very, very long way from my cup of tea. I have no interest at all in watching realistic depictions of people torturing other people and I find it a bit creepy that other people do. Clearly, the fact that they've made about 20 sequels to Saw shows there's a market for this sort of thing, but not in this house.

Although Dust and Broken were made five years apart I've lumped them together, along with Ruby and Prey, Mason's brace of shorts which played the 2002 and 2003 Frightfests. (Prey is available online and is well-made but clichéed. However I'd quite like to see Ruby which sounds diabolically self-indulgent.) The structure of the book is still flexible, nevertheless, and I may end up shifting Dust (and possibly Ruby) onto the end of The 13th Sign. Prey is a direct precursor to Broken so really needs to stay where it is.

Mason's fourth film, The Devil's Chair, remains the only one of his pictures that I can say I actually enjoyed, although I can see why folk who liked Broken may have been disappointed with it. Mason now lives and works in America, making a healthy living out of making further unpleasant movies that I don't want to ever see, no matter how well-made they are.

Film 59: Soul Searcher

2011-12-11T09:13:00.001-08:00

Neil Oseman very kindly sent me a copy of this so I could take a look and write it up for the book. It's a supernatural fantasy but I think that anything in which people have to battle literal demons counts as horror. If Buffy is horror, Soul Searcher is too.

Hugely impressive and massively ambitious, the film is perhaps too ambitious but nevertheless a magnificent achievement and very entertaining. I've done a short-ish write-up which I may amend tonight after watching the feature-length Making Of.

Special plaudits to my mate Scott Benzie for his terrific orchestral/choral score.

Still waiting for: Battersea Ripper

2011-12-11T06:11:00.001-08:00

I’m not sure how much this counts as horror, but it’s about a psycho and has ‘ripper’ in one of its titles (it is also known as Manilla Envelopes).

The unlikely duo of Danny Dyer and Sylvester McCoy star as a pair of journalists on the trail of a kidnapped teenager. The hugely impressive cast also includes Dexter Fletcher, Denise Van Outen, Stephen Graham, Jeff Harding, Jade Asha, PH Moriarty, Alan Ford, Kenny Baker, Vas Blackwood, Lysette Anthony, Don Warrington, Richard Herring, Susannah Wise, Lucy Benjamin, David Schneider, Jennifer Evans and Jim Tavaré!

With a cast like that, you would expect this film have surfaced somewhere but it seems to have had a single screening in March 2006 at ScreenTest, the National Student Film Festival in Bristol. Produced by Cactus Films, Battersea Ripper was written by Stepen Fingleton, an award-winning Northern Irish scriptwriter. Curiously, most references to the film omit to name the director. Some websites say it was Fingleton but his own biography makes it clear he only wrote the thing. I’ve seen Nick Tyrone’s name attached too but he was just an editor.

It seems to have been directed by someone named Mike Spencer, about whom I know nothing.

Synopsis

South London’s young women are been terrorised by the Battersea Ripper. Chief Inspector Stalker (Fletcher) and his underlings (Tyrone and Graham) couldn’t care less. Two corrupt journos (Dyer and McCoy) band together to find the killer. Two media moguls make millions from the story, but are busy blackmailing each other. What nobody counts on is a crazed Irish hitman running amok. Is he the killer? Or the good guy in disguise?

The Stone: No Soul Unturned (review)

2011-12-11T05:30:00.001-08:00

I have added to my main site a review of The Stone: No Soul Unturned, the debut feature by paranormal documentarian Philip Gardiner. It's a British feature shot in Nottinghamshire with a bit of US funding (Warren Croyle, head of Chemical Burn Entertainment who release Gardiner's various fiction and non-fiction titles, is an executive producer).

It's not as awful as I expected. Actually, it probably is, just in a different way. I expected the film to be some po-faced, overly serious polemic about how all this crap is real. It actually turns out to be a supernatural horror with somewhat middling technical credits, no discernible story and far too many drawn-out sequences of people just walking around. However the first half of the film does offer some unintentional entertainment (the second half might too, if it hadn't all been filmed way, way too dark).

The extraordinarily prolific Gardiner has followed this with Paranormal Haunting: The Curse of the Blue Moon Inn (also on my TBW pile), House of Sin, Cam Girl: The Movie, The Dark Watchers, Lady of the Dark: Genesis of the Serpent Vampire and One Hour to Die, all available from (or coming soon from) Chemical Burn.

Still waiting for... Arkham Sanitarium

2011-12-06T13:52:00.001-08:00

The world’s never going to be short of HP Lovecraft movies but very few get made in the UK. Andrew Morgan’s Arkham Sanitarium, which was filmed earlier this year, is an anthology of three HPL tales set in the 1930s with an original 1950s framing story. Release expected next year. Looking forward to this one.

About the film:
Arkham Sanitarium is an anthology of three short stories faithfully adapted from the works of H.P. Lovecraft – each of the three stories is set in 1930s New England (specifically Providence, Rhode Island and the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts). The stories are connected by an original ‘wraparound’ story. In this story – set in the 1950s – Alice Crow investigates the strange stories surrounding the infamous Arkham Sanitarium.

The Haunter of the Dark Robert Blake, author and artist returns to Providence to research a shadowy cult for his new book – against the warnings of his friend Ambrose Dexter he tracks down the old church where the cult performed their dark rituals – in the dusty, decrepit ruins he finds an ancient device that summons a monstrous creature intent on destroying him.

The Shunned House Phillip Whipple, a Miskatonic University medical student returns to Providence to help his uncle Elihu move house. Phillip finds his uncle’s notes on ‘The Shunned House’ – an old, crumbling place with a bad reputation. Phillip was trapped there once as a child and saw something he couldn’t explain so with his uncle’s assistance, the pair seek to uncover why an alarming number of people have died there.

The Thing on the Doorstep Edward Derby, a poet and fantasist, falls for Asenath, a cold but hypnotically beautiful student at Miskatonic University – the pair wed shortly after despite Edward’s close friend, Daniel Upton having concerns about the marriage. Daniel’s worries are well-founded - Asenath is the daughter of Ephraim Waite – an old man rumoured to be a practitioner of black magic before his recent death.

Cast includes: Anthony Clegg, Paul Maclaine, Edward Lewis French, Lexi Wolfe (who was in a student version of The Tell-Tale Heart last year), Zara Symes (also in Third Contact), Jamie Hawes, Simon Matthews (Gangsters, Gun and Zombies - a feature currenly in post), Victoria Smith (in half-hour killer scarecrows short ScAIRcrows), Georgina Lucy (in self-descriptive short Horringer: A Zombie Western), Adam Thomas Wright (The Awakening), Bruce Gibbons, Tom Stanley, Allan McKenna (Nympha), Zoe Simpson, Dan McSherry and Colin Appleby.

More info at http://survivorfilms.com

Kill Keith up for pre-order

2011-12-04T07:21:00.001-08:00

The DVD of the sublimely brilliant Kill Keith is up for pre-order on Amazon. Metrodome will release the film on 26 March 2012. I for one can't wait to watch this again.

Still waiting for... The Devil’s Punch Bowl

2011-12-04T05:03:00.001-08:00

Synopsis
Housemates Alice O'Brien, James Papageorgiou and Gary Mitcham decide to visit The Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey, England, where an unknown sailor was murdered in 1786 by three robbers. The culprits were executed and hanged in chains near the scene of their crime on Gibbet Hill. Alice was in love with her new camera, and decided to film their trip. What was caught on camera...

Starring Peter Chay, Dawn Murphy and Naoufal Ousellam

Written and directed by Tim Hewitt, a former actor who had been in things like Hotel Babylon and MI High. Produced by Hewitt and Madeline Dart. Editor: Alice Petit (director of a 2009 ghostly short called Eleonor). Music by Sergio Cicalo. Sound design by David Pringle (ex-RSC).

'The Devil’s Punch Bowl', is according to Wikipedia, “a large natural amphitheatre and beauty spot near Hindhead, Surrey” and this film, which seems to be a Blair Witch-style fake documentary, is based the local legend of the ‘Unknown Sailor’ who murdered on nearby Gibbet Hill in 1786.

Filmed in September 2010, a rough cut of The Devil's Punch Bowl was taken to Cannes in May, but it all seems to have gone quiet since then. Director Tim Hewitt is still active on Facebook and Twitter but that’s all about his new short or general stuff. Punch Bowl seems to have vanished.

www.thedevilspunchbowlmovie.com

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'The Forgotten' - urban ghost story in post

2011-12-02T13:15:00.001-08:00

I miss the BBC’s Robin Hood series from a few years ago. It was great: full of action and adventure and intrigue and fun and fighting. The lad who played Little John’s son (Little Little John) in a couple of episodes is now 17 and has been cast in a ‘terrifying urban ghost story’ called Forgotten which wrapped principal photography recently.

Synopsis
When his mum suffers a nervous breakdown 14 year old Tommy is sent to live with his father in a run down tower block on an estate gripped by poverty and violence.
His father Mark is battling his own demons, caring for his insular teenage son was not part of his plan.
In his new bedroom in their run down flat , Tommy is woken each night to a soft padding sound as if someone were crawling up the wall on the opposite side.
One morning he wakes to find his entire mattress, sleeping bag and himself have been dragged to the other side of the room and pressed up against that wall…someone or something is trying to get his attention? Someone or something is in that flat next door? Gripped with increasing terror, Tommy has to confront not only Mark's growing disturbed behaviour but also clearly an unseen force that rages in the decrepit apartment next door
With the help of Carmen, an estate girl he befriends, they unleash a force that will change their lives forever...

Clem Tibber, who plays Tommy, was in Chromophobia alongside Kristin Scott Thomas, Rhys Ifans, Ralp Fiennes and Penelope Cruz. He was also in the ‘School Reunion’ episode of Doctor Who. Carmen is played by Elarica Gallagher (who was a waitress in Harry Potter 6). Tommy's father is played by Shaun Dingwall who was Rose Tyler’s dad and his mum is Lyndsey Marshall who plays Lucy in Being Human (and was in Snuff-Movie). Also in the cast: Katherine Mount, James Doherty (Inbred), Paul Marlon, Carys Lewis and Morgan Thomas. Eben Bolter (Three’s a Shroud) was the DOP.

The Forgotten was written by Oliver Frampton and James Hall and directed by Frampton, who previously made a very creepy half-hour short called Beautiful Isolation. It was produced by Jennifer Handford for Stickyback Pictures; she produced an Escape from LA spoof short that Jake West directed for this year’s Frightfest! Here’s the biogs:

Oliver Frampton (Writer / Director) Oliver has spent 10 years working in Film and Television Drama as a Director, Script and Story Editor, and Development Producer on shows like The Bill, RAW, and Soko Leipzig. His horror short Pieces won the Turner Short Film competition. The Forgotten is his debut feature.

James Hall (Writer)
Having spent the last fourteen years working in television drama, James has Story and Series Script Edited, Written and Produced on shows including EastEnders, Doctors, Emmerdale and The Bill. In addition, he also wrote the book for Chasing Fate, a new musical created for and performed by ‘Youth At Risk’ teenagers from the West Midlands. The Forgotten is his first feature-length screenplay.

Jen Handorf (Producer) Jen has been an independent film Producer since graduating from Colombia University where her short Pop Foul won the student Oscar. Since then she’s produced a number of features including Isle of Dogs, Little Deaths and the soon to be released The Devil’s Business.

Grabbers set to premiere at Sundance

2011-12-02T02:40:00.001-08:00

I'm very much looking forward to Grabbers, an Anglo-Irish monster comedy directed by Jon Wright (Tormented), starring Russell Tovey and Richard Coyle. Shot at the end of 2010, the film will have its premiere at Sundance next month.

If it's not the next Shaun of the Dead, it should at least be the next Boy Eats Girl.

Film 58: Never Play with the Dead

2011-12-02T02:24:00.001-08:00

Shown on cable here but only ever commercially released in Australia, I had low expectations for this obscure feature about that most clichéed of plots: young people organising a party in an empty Victorian building.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find an enjoyable - and at times, genuinely spooky - ghost story with rounded, believable characters and chilling, if predictable, ending. Most of the cast and crew seem to have worked on EastEnders and other soaps.

Not a classic by any means but a perfectly acceptable way to spend 80 minutes. How does something like this not get a DVD release when you consider the crap that does? I mean, Left for Dead played cinemas - what sort of bizarro world are we living in?

A list of 140 unreleased British horror films produced since 2000

2011-12-01T11:10:00.001-08:00

In keeping a list of released modern British horror films up-to-date for my book, I also keep a subsidiary list of unreleased titles and this has now grown to a ridiculous length.

The stats are these. The British Horror Revival 1998-2008 will feature 106 movies (at the last count). In the three years since 2008, there have been a (quite staggering) hundred additional British horror films released, which I hope I can cover in a second volume. But during all this time there have been about 140 films which have yet to see a commercial release.

No doubt some are bloody awful and should never see the light of day, as much for the film-makers’ reputations as anything. But equally there must be some in here worth watching. In fact, I know there are.

Below is the current list but I make no claim to be definitive. Feel free to suggest deletions (please!) or additions (if you must) in the comments or by e-mail. I’m going to start a regular(-ish) series of ‘Missing in Action’ blogposts on individual films that look particularly tantalising.

Just to clarify:

‘Released’ in this context means a commercial release, whether in cinema, on DVD or VOD, in at least one territory. The chance for an ordinary punter (somewhere in the world) to slap some money down and watch the film.
Some of these films are known to have played festivals or had one-off screenings; these are marked with an asterisk. I don’t count that as a release.
There are a few films in this list which are only ‘unreleased’ in the sense that they are still in post-production or currently playing festivals. We can confidently expect them to be released in the near future (although nothing is ever certain).
This list does not include films with announced release dates: ie. The Rise of Jengo, Little Deaths, Bordello Death Tales, The Wicker Tree, Passengers, The Woman in Black, Stormhouse, The Porcelain Man, Devil’s Bridge, Vampires: Brighter in Darkness and The Harsh Light of Day
It is possible that some of these films were never finished although I’m reasonably sure they all at least started principal photography.
All of these are, as far as I know, features running at least 70 minutes.
My definition of ‘British horror film’ is actually quite conservative, in terms of judgement calls about international co-productions, borderline ‘dark thrillers’ etc. I try to keep my lists short, not all-inclusive!

Any way you slice it, this is a remarkable, fascinating list:

Airborne (d.Dominic Burns)
Alien Rising (d.Nigel Moran)
Ambition (d.Nicolas Forzy)
Animal Soup (d.David VG Davies)
Bad Place (d.Darren Winter)*
The Battersea Ripper aka Manilla Envelopes (d.Nick Tyrone)*
Beast in the Basement aka Conquering Heroes (d.Robbie Moffat)*
Before Dawn (d.Dominic Brunt)
Bicycle Day aka Bad Trip (d.Damian Morter)
Blood Army aka Nephilim (d.Will Moore)
The Box (d.Jason Wilcox)
Cockneys vs Zombies (d.Matthias Hoene)
Collateral Consequences (d.Paul TT Easter)
Comedown (d.Menhaj Juda)
Community aka Final Project (d.Jason Ford)
Creepsville (d.Michael J Dixon)
The Dark Hunter (d.Duncan Cowan, Mark Jackson)
Dark Journey aka Parkside Hell House (d.James White)
Dark Night (d.Daniel Grant)*
Dead Crazy (d.Frank Scantori)
Dead Dog Blues (d.Aimee Stephenson)*
Dead Frequency (d.Rob Burrows)*
The Dead Inside (d.Andrew Gilbert)*
Deadtime (d.Tony Jopia)
Dead Time (d.Jason Wilcox)
Death (d.Martin Gooch)
Demon (d.Mark Duffield)
The Demon Within (d.Harold Gasnier)
The Devil’s Business (d.Sean Hogan)*
Dreaming of Screaming (d. Lee Burgess, John Ninnis, Tuesday Burgess)
The Dungeon Moor Killings (d.Jim Hickey)*
A Dying Breed (d.Katharine Collins)
Eldorado (d.Richard Driscoll)
Ellie Rose aka Not Alone (d.Tristan Versluis)
Entity (d.Steve Stone)
Every Picture (d.Tobias Tobbell)*
Expiry Date (d.Karen Bird)*
The Fallow Field (d.Leigh Dovey)*
A Fantastic Fear of Everything (d.Chris Hopewell, Crispian Mills)
Le Fear (d.Jason Croot)
Forest of the Damned 2 (d.Ernest Riera)
For One Night Only (d.Belinda Greensmith)
The Found Not Missing (d.Luke Massey)
Fragments (d.Ross Dickson)
Furor: Rage of the Innocent (d,Victor Marke)*
The Glass Man (d.Cristian Solimeno)*
Gozo (d. Stephen Shell)
Grabbers (d.Jon Wright)
Graders (d.David Hutchison)*
A Grave for the Corpses (d.SN Sibley)
Grave Tales (d. Don Fearney)*
Graveyard Shift: A Zomedy of Terrors (d.Sapphira Sen-Gupta, Denise Channing)
The Great Ghost Rescue (d.Yann Samuell)
Guinea Pigs (d.Ian Clark)*
Hacked Off (d.Andrew Weild)
Hard Shoulder (d.Nicholas David Lean)
Harmony’s Requiem aka Silent Terror (d.Mark McDermott)*
Harold’s Going Stiff (d.Keith Wright)*
The Harrowing (d.Tim Burke)
Haunted (d.Steven M Smith)
The Haunting of Harry Payne (d.Martyn Pick)
The Haven (dir.Ray Kilby)
HellBilly 58 (d.Russ Diaper)
Heretic (d.Peter Handford)
High Stakes (d.Peter Ferris)
The Holding (d.Susan Jacobson)*
Hollow (d.Michael Axelgaard)*
Horrorcide (d.Rakie Keig)
The Horror of the Dolls (d.Shane Davey)*
The Hounds (d.Maurizio & Roberto Del Piccolo)*
Inbred (d.Alex Chandon)*
In the Dark Half (d.Alastair Siddons)
Invisible Eyes (d.Olivier Cohen)*
Jacob’s Hammer aka Jacob (d.Angie Bojtler)
Lady of the Dark: Genesis of the Serpent Vampire (d.Philip Gardiner)
The Last Blood Line (d.John Evans)
The Last Zombi Hunter (d.SN Sibley)
Legend of the Alleyman (d.Mike Jelves)
The Legend of the 5ive (d.James P Weatherall)*
Lethal (d.Darcia Martin)
Liberty Bleeds (d.Stuart Wood)
The Lost (d.Johan Neethling)
Martyr (d.Shaun Troke)
May I Kill U? (d.Stuart Urban)
Monitor (d.David VG Davies)
Myth (d.John Aldridge)
A Night in the Woods (d.Richard Parry)*
Night is Day (d.Fraser Coull)
Occasional Monsters (d.Sam Addison, Michael Cox)*
Old Blood (d.Sapphira Sen-Gupta, Denise Channing)*
One Hour to Die (d.Philip Gardiner)
Patient 17 (d.Tuyet Le)*
The Perfect Burger (d.Todd Carty)
Piggy (d.Kieron Hawks)
The Power (d.Paul Hills)
Psychosomatic (d.Andrew C Tanner)*
Purgatory (d.Stuart Wood)
A Reckoning aka Straw Man (d. AD Barker)
Re-evolution (d.Andrew Walkington)
The Reverend (d. Neil Jones)*
Rising Tide (d.Dawn Furness, Philip Shotton)*
Rock and Roll Fuck’n’Lovely (d.Josh Bagnall)
Sacrificed (d.Keith Bradley)*
Sawney: Flesh of Man (d.Ricky Wood Jnr)
Scopia (d.Chris Butler)
Screen (d.David P Baker)
Season of the Witch (d.Peter Goddard)*
Seven Crosses (d.Robbie Moffat)*
Showreel (d.Ross Birkbeck)
Simon and Emily (d.Lee Isserow)
Slasher House (d.Michael J Dixon)
Slumber Party (d.Martin Marshall)
Sparrow (d.Shaun Troke)
Stag Hunt (d.James Shanks)
Stitches aka The Killer Gloves (d.Trevor Fleming, Lee Isserow)*
Strippers vs Werewolves (d. Jonathan Glendenning)
Telephone Detectives (d.Mark Reynaud)
Third Contact (d.Simon Horrocks)*
Three’s a Shroud (d.David VG Davies, Dan Brownlie, Andy Edwards)
Through the Looking Glass (d.Craig Griffith)*
Tied in Blood (d.Kevin McDonagh)
Till Sunset (d.David Woods)
Transylvanian Express (d.Kirby Leitko)
Truth or Dare (d.Robert Heath)
Tuck Bushman and the Legend of Piddledown Dale (d.Chris Lumb)*
UFO (d.Dominic Burns)
Unwelcome (d.Keith R Robinson)
The Urge (d.Chris Andrews)
Venus Drowning (d. Andrew Parkinson)*
A Very Grimm Fairy Tale (d.Scott Johnson)
Voodoo Lagoon (d.Nick Cohen)*
Warhouse (d.Luke Massey)
Webkam (d.Ibraheem James Layton)
When the Lights Went Out aka Speak No Evil (d.Pat Holden)
Wilby Park (d.Ian Fielding)
Within (d.John A Curtis, Merlin Ward)
Within the Woods (d.Luke Massey)
The Zombie King (d.Aidan Belizaire)
Zombies of the Night (d.Stuart Brennan)

Hammer to film steampunk zombies

2011-12-01T00:08:00.001-08:00

The news is all over the web that Hammer have announced they are going to film Cherie Priest's steampunk zombie novel Boneshakers. Here's the press release from Exclusive Media Group which really tells you everything you need to know. John Hilary Shepherd is writing the script.

Warhouse is found, not missing!

2011-11-29T14:10:00.001-08:00

Here's one I hadn't heard of before: Warhouse. And it looks squaddie-tastic! As we all know, all the best British horror films have squaddies in them. Check out the great design artwork by Chris Wildgoose.

Warhouse is described as a "film about a soldier who is repeating the same day over and over working towards becoming one of a chosen few to fight a final battle" and "Gladiator meets Groundhog Day" although to me it sounds more like TrashHouse meets Deathwatch. It stars Joseph Morgan (The Vampire Diaries), Matt Ryan (Blood Monkey!) and William Troughton.

Synopsis
In the role of Royal Marine, A.J. Budd, Joseph Morgan stars in this brutal psychological and supernatural thriller, in which he finds himself trapped in the Warhouse. Imprisoned, he is forced to fight for his life against grotesque, inhuman opponents. He must kill every day or die himself. His one glimmer of hope comes in the form of a diary, left by a former occupant of the house, WWI Lieutenant Edward Sterling, played by Matt Ryan.

This is being described by some sites as Luke Massey's debut feature but here at British Horror Revival we know it's actually his third. As a teenager he made two amateur feature films: violent rape revenge thriller The Found Not Missing and one of several dozen zombie films called Within the Woods. I don't know whether either of those got finished.

Warhouse is his first proper movie, with real actors and everything, and looks great. It has been produced and co-written by Benjamin Read whose day-job is publishing reprints of 19th century illustrated children's books!

Warhouse on Facebook
www.warhousethemovie.com

Image let 'Don't Let Him In' out

2011-11-28T23:53:00.001-08:00

Via Dread Central comes news that Image will release Kelly Smith's Don't Let Him In on US DVD on 3rd January. Not to be confused with Hammer's Let Me In, this is an indie horror flick which was screened at this year's Festival of Fantastic Films, but only after I had left so I haven't seen it, though I have heard good things.

It was released in the Netherlands in August and in France (cover-mounted on a magazine!) in September. No news of a UK release yet.

www.dontlethimin.com

Synopsis

What if you invited a serial killer on holiday by mistake?

Handsome, charming and arrogant, Tristan has picked up Mandy on a one-night stand. The love-struck girl invites him to a rural getaway with her brother Calvin and his girlfriend Paige, an emergency room nurse.

But Tristan has secrets. He needs to get out of the city. And suspicions grow when a local police officer warns the group that a sadistic serial killer is plaguing the area.

Dubbed the Tree Surgeon, this brutal psychopath ritualistically slaughters his victims, hanging their severed body parts in the trees as unholy offerings.

That night a delirious, half-dead stranger arrives, his stomach slashed open. Paige saves his life – but is Shawn the innocent hitchhiker he claims?

Doubts begin to breed. Then the killings begin, and suspicion spirals into paranoia, climaxing in a shocking revelation and a punishing battle for survival as the Tree Surgeon drags his final traumatized victim into his lair…

DON’T LET HIM IN is a nerve-bludgeoning horror thriller which combines slow-burning suspense with visceral, graphic shock.

Film 57: Snuff Movie

2011-11-28T15:47:00.001-08:00

Dear God, I have to sit through some crap in the name of research. It's from the guy who made Candyman, surely it should be at least okay.

It's not. It fails utterly. It tries to be clever meta-fiction about the levels of reality involved when a Polanski-clone director recreates his wife's murder in his hidden-camera-filled house with unwitting, improv-ing actors. It ends up just being a huge mess that doesn't make a lick of sense. What should have been a clever, intricate narrative just flaps around helplessly like a stranded porpoise.

In Rose's defence (and he appears to have never spoken about the project), it looks very much like a film that has been ruined by producer interference, with lots of random scary bits bolted on, never mind whether they make any sense or not.

The Reverend trailer

2011-11-28T15:34:00.001-08:00

I really can't wait to see Neil Jones' The Reverend (I missed a preview at the British Horror Film Festival but hope to get my paws on a screener soon). The cast list alone is to die for: the wonderful Emily Booth (Doghouse, Evil Aliens), the extraordinary Giovanni Lombardo Radice (A Day of Violence), the brilliant Mads Koudal (Footsteps), the incomparable Doug Bradley and the one and only Rutger Hauer (not to mention Tamer Hassan, Simon Phillips, Stuart Brennan, Dominic Burns...). Oh, and Shane Richie! In British Horror Revival terms, that's an all-star cast list.

www.thereverendfilm.com

Here's the trailer:

Savini returns to British horror in Silent Night of the Living Dead

2011-11-28T15:13:00.001-08:00

Shock Till You Drop reports that FX legend and occasional actor Tom Savini has been cast in Silent Night of the Living Dead, the Christmas zombie film currently being developed by director Paul Davis (who made American Werewolf docu Beware the Moon) and Severance writer James Moran. Legendary poster artist Graham Humphreys has done this teaser poster for the project.

Savini's previous acting gig in this country was Johannes Roberts' Forest of the Damned which is not one of his greatest hits. STYD also reports that AJ Bowen (House of the Devil, Hatchett II) has signed up for Davis' film.

Another STYD report from a couple of weeks ago says that FX bloke Dave Elsey will be handling prosthetics. Elsey is also attached to something called Zombie Carnage and, if your stomach can take it, you can see that project's Elsey-designed zombie version of Craig Charles.

A curious final paragraph says:

"Next year will also see the release of Davis' FAB Press book 666 Horror Movies to Die For: The Essential Guide To Screen Terror. He'll also be seen as the monster in The Otherside, starring Nick Moran (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), hitting the festival circuit in 2012."

I can't find any other reference anywhere to The Otherside (or a monster film with Nick Moran) and have no idea what that is.

Film 56: Devil's Harvest

2011-11-27T01:33:00.001-08:00

The few reviews of this film on the web assume that it was produced in 2003/04 but it's actually much older than that.

Back in 1998 I visited a dubbing studio in Shepperton to report for SFX on the completely new dialogue track which was being recorded for the UK theatrical release of Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. While I was there, the young chap in charge showed me footage from a supernatural horror film which he had made with Brian Blessed and Julie T Wallace.

Seven years later, Devil's Harvest suddenly and inexplicably emerged on DVD on both sides of the Atlantic. The UK distributor retitled it Don't Go Into the Attic. The sleeve image bears no relation whatsoever to the film, which is something to do with the resurrection of the sea-god Dagon. Or something. Good characterisation and nice locations (Devon and Somerset, pretending to be Cornwall) doesn't make up, sadly, for an incomprehensible plot.

Third Contact - philosophical sci-fi/horror feature

2011-11-26T11:31:00.001-08:00

Third Contact, which had a preview screening on 3rd November, has been described as "an atmospheric psychological thriller exploring madness and depression and achieving a fresh take on the topical issue of euthanasia." It has been shot mostly in black and white and is pretty much a one-man effort by Simon Horrocks who wrote a short thriller in 2005 called Callback.

The cast includes Simeon Willis who was in StagKnight and the excellent zombie feature The Invisible Atomic Monsters from Mars.

Synopsis
Dr David Wright's emotional torment now prevents him from functioning as a therapist. The woman he has loved has vanished from his life 'forever'. Rene Maurer, one of his regular patients, has died - an apparent suicide. Rene's sister, Erika, travelling to London to sort out his things, discovers something curious - his apartment is almost empty. A cup, a spoon, a fork, a knife, frames without pictures, torn photos... One more curiousity - a list of memories. Four dated descriptions of moments in Rene's life.

Another patient dies. Another list of memories. There's something strange going on. Something sinister behind these 'suicides'...

Here's the trailer and a three-minute short explaining the concept of 'quantum suicide'. It all looks fascinating.

www.thirdcontactmovie.com
www.facebook.com/thirdcontactmovie

Film 55: Trauma (dir. Marc Evans)

2011-11-26T08:35:00.001-08:00

I watched Trauma, Marc Evans' disappointing follow-up to My Little Eye, last night and wrote it up today. It's a bit of a mess really (the film, not my write-up!) and Evans seemed to think that just having lots of hallucinatory stuff would disguise the clichéed and predictable story by first-time screenwriter Richard Smith.

Colin Firth and Mena Suvari are both monumentally miscast, the set design is counter-productively over-the-top, the obvious plot becomes quite extraordinarily stupid in the final act and the whole thing seems a wasted opportunity to be honest.

It's not a terrible film but it's got nothing new or interesting to say about anything. I'm rather glad to have got it out of the way. Don't think I'll be troubling that disc again.

Ian McCulloch's lost British zombie film

2011-11-25T12:14:00.001-08:00

How many zombie films has Ian McCulloch appeared in? If you said two - Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombie Holocaust - you’re close. In fact he was in a British zombie short called Dead Centre: Architecture and Apocalypse. Look - here he is!

The film was shot in February/March 2005 and was supposedly going to be screened at that August’s Frightfest but the blog at www.zombiecentral.blogspot.com stopped in March 2005, threatened to resurface in April 2006 - and the rest was silence.

I can’t even find out who made this. The website contributors are identified only as Buddydisco, Tony o’the Gosh and K - this last appears to be Seattle bookseller Kristofor Minta!

Here’s a BBC website report on the filming, and here are photos of two other guest stars: genre writers Jack Sargent (top) and Jay Slater.

Did this ever get finished?

Bigger and Badder - werewolf short in development

2011-11-25T10:34:00.001-08:00

This is a proposed short film being developed by some folks in Birmingham. Writer-director Richard Wantuch has designed a pretty groovy looking werewolf.

Here's their Crowdfunder page with a video pitch.

It's got to be better than the last werewolf film made in Birmingham, if only because I'm not in it.

Kill List DVD, for those who liked it

2011-11-25T10:12:00.001-08:00

The over-rated, over-hyped Kill List is out on UK DVD and Blu-Ray on 26th December. I know some people think it's a great movie. Personally I think it's the Emperor's new clothes.

I actually really enjoyed Kill List right up to the end when it suddenly stopped - the laziest, dumbest cop-out of a non-ending since The Blair Witch Project. It's clear that Ben Wheatley didn't bother to work out an ending to his story but correctly surmised that there are plenty of people who will assume that something they don't understand must be really clever.

I'm told the film greatly improves on a second viewing. Call me fussy but I'm not in the habit of rewatching films that I didn't like the first time.

Extras: Commentary with Director Ben Wheatley and Writer Amy Jump / Commentary with Actors Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Michael Smiley / Audio Description / Making Of Kill List / Interview with Ben Wheatley / Interview with Neil Maskell and MyAnna Buring / Interview with Claire Jones and Andrew Starke / Trailer

Film 54: Spring Heeled Jack

2011-11-24T14:39:00.001-08:00

I only came across this last night (bumping my target up to 104 films) and decided to get it out of the way. It sees the legendary Victorian character somehow resurfacing in the present day where he terrorises a group of teens.

Actually looks better than it sounds, judging by the trailer. Written, produced and directed by 17-year-old twins in 2005, self-released on DVD in 2007, with a BBFC certificate.

Who knew this even existed?

Film 53: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

2011-11-24T13:14:00.001-08:00

Another quick fix and possibly the shortest entry in the book. Sure, it's borderline - but it has a transmogrifying man-beast, mind-transferrance, a climactic hmage to King Kong, stylistic nods to Hammer and themes around the British class system and social standing.

That's a British horror film in my book (even if the money was American). So that's where it goes - in my book.

The Rise of Jengo

2011-11-24T10:11:00.001-08:00

Something called The Rise of Jengo is now available to buy from the film-maker's website for £9.99 ("with free shipping"). Apparently this is an online offer ahead of the "official release date for the high street" which is 17th December. However, it's not clear which part of the High Street will sell it as the film hasn't been certificated.

The Rise of Jengo has been written, directed and produced by Joe Wheeler who also stars (as two characters) and gets camera, editing and casting credits too, although presumably somebody else held the camera while he was acting.

Although it's not mentioned on the site, Wheeler has actually made this film before as The Evil Outside Your Window. I don't know whether The Rise of Jengo is a remake, a re-edit or just a retitling of the previous film, or it may even be a sequel. There's a plot synopsis for Evil which presumably also applies to Jengo:

This film is about a young man who starts getting bad nightmares about an evil spirit called Jengo whom used to haunt him as a child. These nightmares begin to get worse and worse and Jengo feeds off the fear he creates in this young man which helps manifest Jengo into the land of the living to terrorize and even kill!

Evil was self-released in October last year and is available to buy online for $5.99. The DVD sleeve has a '15' certificate logo but it's not listed on the BBFC site. There is a one-off cinema screening of Jengo planned for 12th December in London although the venue hasn't yet been announced.

I can't judge whether these films are any good from the trailers, which seem to consist entirely of blood and hallucinatory camera-work. But all credit to Joe Wheeler. He has made two feature-length films and that's an achievement for a young man working outside of the indie film industry.

www.theriseofjengo.com
www.theeviloutsideyourwindow.com

Finally, here's the blurb from the back of the Jengo sleeve, verbatim (I hope the film's better than this)...

A nightmarish fright fest when the beast comes back home closer than you can ever think!

He is the evil from your nightmares, waiting, hunting, blood thirsty for new prey to haunt. He is far worse than any nightmare!

He is a nightmare!

He is THE nightmare!

and the scary thing is....

HE IS REAL!

This film is a horrorfest filled with disturbing cannabilism like elements, full of sickly twisted torturous events! and is truelly mentally disturbing and shocking!

Its the stuff of nightmares...

Your Nightmares!!

Film 52: The Veil

2011-11-22T13:38:00.001-08:00

I wanted a quick fix to restore my morale by getting my tally back above the 50% mark so I've knocked out a few paragraphs about this obscure zero-budget zombie feature which was made by brothers John and Richard Chance and released by Brain Damage in 2008.

It's in black and white, it's two and a half hours long and the main characters spend almost the entire film wearing gas masks....

Film 51: TrashHouse

2011-11-21T15:06:00.001-08:00

Pat Higgins (Mr ZCarsTheme himself) is a great guy and his films have steadily improved. I think The Devil's Music is magnificent and I can't wait to see the Higgins-scripted Strippers vs Werewolves.

But the downside of this is that I don't particularly rate his debut feature TrashHouse. It tries too hard to do too much with too little and ends up not working. I also must admit that, until browsing the web for background info for tonight's bit of writing, I had never thought of the film as a 'horror comedy'.

There's not a lot to say on the film but it's the starting point of an interesting and productive career.

Who is Steven M Smith?

2011-11-21T15:01:00.001-08:00

The British indie film industry comes in two parts. There are the films which share cast and crew and seem to be part of a larger whole, and there are the mavericks, iconoclasts, call ‘em what you will, who plough away on their own.

Despite all the research I’ve done I had never heard of Steven M Smith or his films until last night when I came across the information that his ghost drama Time of Her Life had been released on US DVD in 2007. That’s the footnote to the Evil Aliens post; this is the film that took my total to 103.

Apart from a couple of actors who were in unfunny vampire comedy Asylum Night, most of the rest of the cast and crew seem to be Smith’s stock company. His somewhat confusing website for Greenway Entertainment Ltd has info on a bunch of other shorts and features at various stages of creation. He seems to be currently trying to raise funds to finish post on a feature called Haunted and he is also shooting a set of six shorts which I think he’s planning to release en masse on a single DVD.

Time of Her Life was trade-screened at Cannes in 2005 and also received a BBFC certificate that year. According to the website, a British DVD of the ‘Director’s Cut' was either released a year ago on 25 November 2010 or will be released this Friday, 25 November 2011.

Anyway, good luck to Smith as he ploughs his own furrow. I’ll add a couple of paragraphs about Time of Her Life to the book and watch out for news on Haunted.

www.greenwayentertainment.com

www.timeofherlife.com

Film 50: Evil Aliens

2011-11-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

In a busy evening, I have found time to complete the section on Jake West's second picture. I'll admit that Jake's been a mate since the days of Razor Blade Smile but that doesn't affect my genuine enjoyment of Evil Aliens.

Ironically, I was never able to make the shoot because at the time I was unemployed with a baby on the way and couldn't even justify the train fare to Cambridge.

Nevertheless I have an embarrassment of riches on this film in terms of interviews: Jenny Evans, Emily Booth, Tim Dennison, Neil Jenkins, Richard Wells, Tris Versluis and a long chat with Jake himself. Keeping it all below 2,000 words (my absolute upper limit for any film) was the tricky bit.

Update: Oh Jesus, here's another one with a US release date of 2007! That's 103 films so 53 more to do by Easter. And on Friday I thought I was halfway there...

Film 49: Blood

2011-11-20T08:58:00.001-08:00

Well, the bad news is that I miscalculated or miscounted or something and whereas I thought I had 96 films to cover in the book, the current list actually stands at 101. So I'm still not quite halfway there!

The good news is that I've just written up a section on Charly Cantor's Blood, one of the great forgotten titles of the British Horror Revival. Apart from a review in Fangoria virtually nothing has been written about this film so I was particularly pleased to find, in the MJS archives, the dictaphone tape from my set visit in 1999.

My unpublished interviews with Cantor (who died in 2002, two years before the film's eventual release) and other cast and crew have provided a unique insight into the film's development and production which I couldn't have found anywhere else.

Update: I've just discovered another title given a US release in 2007 so we're up to 102 now. I feel like I'm going backwards!

Zombie King shoot starts

2011-11-20T00:59:00.001-08:00

Principal photography starts today on The Zombie King, the debut feature from Northern Girl Productions (Rebbecca-Clare Evans and Jennifer Chippendale). Directed by first-timer Aidan Belizaire, the script is by the producers and actor George McCluskey (who is in the film and previously played the main villain in transvestite superhero comedy Catalina: A New Kind of Superhero).

The cast is led by Corey Feldman(!) and Edward Furlong(!) with Sebastian Street (Stag Night of the Dead, Airborne), Samuel Barnett (a regular on Andrew Marshall's demon-hunting TV series Strange), Jon Campling (Penetration Angst) and popular 'heavy' Forbes KB (A Day of Violence, Kung Fu Flid), plus Nathan Head (The Deadly Game, Myth) and Mike Burnie (When the Lights Went Out).

Neil Jones (The Reverend) executive produces and the make-up effects are being overseen by Mike Peel (Evil Aliens, The Scar Crow, Zombie Diaries 2).

Website, Facebook, Twitter

Synopsis

Samuel Peters once an ordinary man, dabbles within the laws of voodoo to bring his wife back from the grave, he soon encounters the God of malevolence ‘Kalfu’, where he makes a pact with him to destroy the underworld and bring chaos to earth; in return he will become ‘The Zombie King’ and walk the earth for eternity with his belated wife.

Seven days before the rise of the Dark Moon, Peters calls upon Kalfu to raise the dead of the recently departed, where their souls must be held on earth for seven days.

With the ever growing horde of zombies, they begin to completely wipe out a countryside town. Once the Government get wind of what is going on, they set a perimeter around the town area and employ a shoot on sight policy.

Trapped within the town, the locals and unlikely bunch of misfits fight for their lives, and the remaining humans soon realise that they have to unite in order to survive.

Seeking sanctuary in a local church, they discover a bizarre disturbed priest where he gives them the knowledge of ‘The Zombie King’.

Can our hero’s unravel the clues in time and survive or will The Zombie King and his horde of zombies rise on the night of the dark moon?

New US trailer for Stormhouse

2011-11-19T10:57:00.001-08:00

This is the new trailer for Dan Turner's Stormhouse which Lion's Gate has cut together, full of a gravelly voiced man reading captions. The film was first shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June and will be released on US DVD/VOD on 7th February 2012. A UK release is apparently in the works.

Lethal Dose 50%

2011-11-19T03:37:00.001-08:00

I am at the exact halfway point in the book, which will feature 96 British horror films released between 1998 and 2008. No doubt I shall muse at a later date on what I consider a British horror film, a British horror film and indeed a British horror film, not to mention the thorny problems of dates. It is also entirely possible that between now and Easter I will discover a previously unidentified title or change my mind about the in/exclusion of a particular film. But for now, there are 96 films on my list and I have so far written about 48 of them.

Actually only 95 were released in that 11-year period as the first film in the book is Darklands, which was released in 1996. We can think of this as a precursor to the British Horror Revival (BHR) or a statistical outlier or somesuch.

Anyway, for the curious, here are the four dozen films included in the manuscript to date. I will post here as I add each of the remaining movies.

Alone, The Asylum, Asylum Night, The Bunker, Cold and Dark, Cradle of Fear, Daddy’s Girl, Darkhunters, Darklands, Dead Creatures, Dead Man’s Shoes, Deathwatch, The Devil’s Chair, The Devil’s Tattoo, Dog Soldiers, Dominator, Dr Sleep, The Eliminator, The Evolved, Fall of Louse of Usher, Forest of the Damned, Freak Out, The Gathering, Hellbreeder, The Hole, I Zombie, The Last Horror Movie, LD50, Lighthouse, London Voodoo, Long Time Dead, My Little Eye, Night Junkies, Nine Lives, Octane, Parasite, Penetration Angst, Project Assassin, Razor Blade Smile, Revelation, Sacred Flesh, Sanitarium, Sentinels of Darkness, Shaun of the Dead, Urban Ghost Story, The Witches Hammer, The 13th Sign, 28 Days Later

Start of a new blog

2011-11-19T01:43:00.001-08:00

I have created this new blog to serve two purposes. One is to document the vast number of British horror films currently being produced and released. In terms of sheer volume, the boom in indie horror production has been rising steadily since the start of the century and shows no sign of stopping, yet most people are unaware of the bigger picture.

I will pull together whatever news I find - from other sites, or direct from the film-makers in my address book - on production and release of current and recent British horror films.

The second purpose, unashamedly, is to generate interest in my forthcoming book, The British Horror Revival 1998-2008 which is scheduled for publication by Hemlock Books in the second half of 2012. I will be documenting the development of the book, which is currently half-written and due for delivery at Easter.